Church of San Giovanni Evangelista

The Sansepolcro cathedral (or also the concattedrale basilica of San Giovanni Evangelista from 1986, when the new diocese of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro was established) is the most important Catholic church in the city. Built around the tenth century thanks to the construction of a Benedictine monastery, the church (built between 1012 and 1049) was initially dedicated to the four evangelists and the Holy Sepulcher as it housed relics brought from the Holy Land by two pilgrims: Arcano and Egidio.

Inside it are preserved works of the highest quality including:

- the Volto Santo, a polychrome wooden crucifix from the Carolingian period, still very revered today; the work has many stylistic similarities with the Volto Santo of Lucca and is among the oldest in the world;

- the Ascension of Christ by Pietro Vannucci known as Perugino, guarded on the left aisle.

- The Resurrection of Christ, by Raffaellino dal Colle;

- The polyptych of the Resurrection, by Niccolò di Segna, placed on the high altar;

- Various glazed terracotta sculptures of the Della Robbia school.

From a side door on the right aisle you can access the internal cloister decorated with a cycle of frescoes and the Chapel of San Leonardo (or of the Monacato) where, according to his testamentary deeds, Piero della Francesca would be buried. This chapel, according to tradition, would be the one originally built by Arcano and Egidio returning from the Holy Land and considered the founding fathers of the city.