Explore Lugano

Lugano Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Lawrence, stands on a terrace above the old town and is the seat of the Bishop of Lugano. A church is recorded on the site from 818; the present building dates largely from the late 15th century, and its Renaissance façade of white stone, completed in 1517, has carved portals and a large rose window.

Santa Maria degli Angioli is a church on Piazza Luini by the lakefront, built from 1499 for a Franciscan friary and consecrated in 1515. Inside, the screen wall between the nave and the choir is covered by Bernardino Luini's large fresco of the Passion and Crucifixion of Christ, begun in 1529, and side chapels hold further Renaissance frescoes.