A parish church dedicated to Saint Lawrence stood on the site before the twelfth century, when the cathedral was built. The article describes the style as Romanesque. The cathedral faces east on high ground. The facade is built from imported materials rather than local stone, and the campanile is clad in alternating bands of white travertine and blue-green basalt.
Cardinal Gambarra funded a reconstruction in the mid-sixteenth century, though no architect is named, and his additions include lobster and prawn motifs. In the thirteenth century the cathedral and the adjoining Palazzo dei Papi housed the papal throne. Pope John XXI died in 1277 when his study ceiling collapsed.
The cathedral and city were heavily damaged in the Second World War. It is now an active cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of Viterbo.
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