Overview
Home to the Marble Pieta sculpture
In Urbino, in the ancient crypt of the Romanesque-Gothic cathedral, is the Oratory of the Santissimo Crocifisso della Grotta, also known as the Oratory of the Grotto or Cathedral Caves.
The Oratory, renovated many times over the centuries, no longer presents the original liturgical order and consists of four chapels, built between the 16th and 17th centuries. The first is the Nativity Chapel, dominated by the marble altar, which surrounds the fresco depicting the Nativity of Christ. The second is the Chapel of the Crucifix, rebuilt in neoclassical style after the 1789 earthquake, which houses the 15th-century wooden crucifix that miraculously survived the collapse of the dome. The third is the Chapel of the Resurrection, which houses the splendid marble group of the Pietà by Florentine artist Brandini. Finally, the Chapel of the Sepulchre houses the sculptures of the Lamentation over the Dead Christ.
Around the fourth chapel lies a small corridor featuring two large crosses: the Tour of Forgiveness, traditionally walked in prayer on Easter Monday.
