Lanciano Cathedral

Lanciano Cathedral (Italian: Basilica Cattedrale della Madonna del Ponte) dedicated to the Virgin Mary as Santa Maria del Ponte ("Saint Mary of the Bridge") is the duomo of Lanciano in Chieti, Italy, and the cathedral church of the Archdiocese of Lanciano-Ortona.

In a niche at the base of the chancel is the polychrome terracotta statue of the Madonna del Ponte.

Recent restorations, following an earthquake in 1985, have adapted the chancel to fit the norms prescribed by Vatican II, with the new altar consecrated in 1996 and the construction of an ambon (with a marble eagle by the Lanciano sculptor Vito Pancella [it]) in 1997, together with a baptismal font in 1999, near the chancel.

The campanile of the basilica has a small cannon on the summit, which is fired at noon every day to signal the hour.

The Squillina, which rings with the daily firing of the cannon at noon, also sounds in the evening on 23 December, the day of the Lanciano prawn festival, a pre-Christmas tradition in which the children are shut in their family houses, kiss their fathers' hands as a sign of respect and receive gifts.

The cathedral with the bridge of Diocletian under it
Interior
Campanile seen from the Diocletianic Bridge on the right side of the cathedral