Basilica/Duomo, what's the difference?
 

Forgive the double post but forgot to select a topic before.

We had our photos out again today for friends, and they asked the above question. We could not answer and thought how silly we had never thought the same during our trip (just caught up in the trance of bella Italia!)

So, can anyone help us answer this question!!?

A duomo is the Italian word for a cathedral, which has a bishop. A basilca is just a Catholic church, or to be precise, an oblong building (first designed in ancient Rome) having two rows of columns dividing the interior into a nave and two side aisles.

A "Duomo" it's a Cathedral . In Catholic terminology is the church of the bishop of the zone.
A Basilica can be as big or even more than a Duomo but it's not a church related to any bishop. Almost always is dedicated to an specific saint , like St Peter's in Rome. The Cathedral of Rome is San Giovanni in Laterano where the Pope acts as Rome Bishop :)
Hope I have explained it clearly, it's a bit strange !

I'll try to get a little closer to the correct answer. As stated above, a cathedral or duomo is a church that is the seat of a bishop. In Catholic usage, basilica is a designation given to a church by the pope, indicating that the church is of some special significance. Many cathedrals are also basilicas. Close to my home, Marie, reine de la monde in Montreal is a cathedral basilica as is Notre Dame in Ottawa. But Notre Dame in Montreal is only a basilica.

"Duomo" is a contraction of "Domus Dei," Latin for "House of God." As noted above, it refers to a bishop's "cathedra," his "seat" (hence, cathedral). "Duomo" is a functional term.

"Basilica" may have a functional meaning, as ron says, but stylistically the word refers to a building in which a long nave, flanked by colonnades, runs to a semicircular apse at the far end. I say "building," rather than "church," because the style predates Christianity by centuries. But of course many churches are basilicas, too.

I apologize for going a little nuts with the quotation marks. Hope your trip was a great one.

from what I've been told by several architects,Smalti's definition of basilica is correct.

Accuracy of terms is nice. I have been all but physically attacked for commenting on a "beautiful cathedral" we saw by people who ranted that it WASN'T a cathedral at all. To be safe, you can always simply say "we saw five churches today."

Yes , Smalti's definition is architecturally correct. But many "basilicas" don't follow that pattern, at least, here in Spain. As ron said, it's the Pope who gives a church the consideration of "basilica" not the architecture.

a basilica may not be a church at all.There is a basilica in the Roman forum,it is a meeting place,not a place of worship.

Does anyone know if Il Duomo in Perugia actually has a dome? Thank you for your assistance.