The cathedral of the town, commonly called Duomo di Livorno, is dedicated to Francis of Assisi, Mary, mother of Jesus, and Julia of Corsica, and was built in a central position of the Pentagono del Buontalenti on the south side of Piazza Grande once named Piazza d’Arme. The original plan was drawn up by Bernardo Buontalenti when he projected the new town. The construction began in June 1581 on a reviewed plan by Alessandro Pieroni under the direction of Antonio Cantagallina. The church had a rectangular plant with a single nave, the original wooden ceiling, executed from 1610 to 1614, was carved by Vincenzo Ricordati and gilded with seven inserted paintings. Jacopo Ligozzi, Domenico Cresti and Jacopo Chimenti decorated, from 1610 to 1614, three large paintings representing "Saint Francis with Child and the Virgin", the "Assumption of Mary" and the "Apotheosis of Saint Julia", the other four paintings were works by minor artists.Livornoyoung The simply façade had a marble porch with twin Doric columns surmounted by a terrace added in 1605 on a project by Alessandro Pieroni.
