Volterra Cathedral was rebuilt after the earthquake of 1117 and consecrated by Pope Calixtus II in 1120. Its Romanesque facade was built using spolia from the Roman theater of Volterra. Nicola Pisano is said to have been involved in reconstruction in the mid-thirteenth century, and the intarsia over the door is attributed to him. The campanile dates from 1493.
The Latin cross plan has an elongated nave of 22 columns decorated with stucco simulating rose-colored granite. Bishop Guido Serguidi commissioned the coffered ceiling in 1580, with approval from Ferdinando I de' Medici. The main altar ciborium of 1471 is by Mino da Fiesole, and a Deposition group of five wooden figures dates from 1228.
The Florentines destroyed the original cathedral, dedicated to Saint Peter, during a siege in 1472, and the bishop's seat moved here. The cathedral is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
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