The present building is the result of the works carried out by Alessandro Antonelli in the mid nineteenth century, which was eventually left incomplete; from the medieval four-sided portico of the rectory (Canonica), located behind the edifice, the arches that jut out give the idea that they were meant to support a structure that was never realised. The idea of renovating the ancient Dome was already present during the seventeen-hundreds but was set aside because of financial problems rather than for the will to preserve the medieval structure. The presbytery works carried out by Antonelli, will be already completed around 1830; the architect, thirty-four year old by then, is given the commission to build the major altar (1832-1836), which today is still there. The Danish Bertel Thorwaldsen (1770-1844), one of the most famous sculptors of that time, will also collaborate to the building of this imposing structure, positioned in the centre of cathedral. Through this project Antonelli will gain the Canons’fondness, who twenty years later won’t hesitate to approve, with eleven votes against two, his proposal to rebuild the cathedral. The choice of demolishing the Romanic cathedral will lead to a split: on one side the “modernists” and on the other the ones that wish to preserve the edifice; the ancient structure presents many problems concerning its preservation and the restoration difficulties are enormous. In those days the town centre is also being restyled, so the edifice is perceived as old-fashioned. In the end the modernists will win, and between 1857 and 1869 the new cathedral will be built. The consecration will take place in 1869, though the interior works will be completed around 1880. Whoever visits the Dome today, is welcomed by the four-sided portico realised by Antonelli between 1857 and 1863, and which seems to suffocate its imposing façade. The Loggia (gallery or corridor) which crowns the principal prospect was demanded by the Canons, who will manage to convince the architect of their idea. The pronaos (inner area of the portico), which will never be completed with the statues and the decorations demanded by the project, presents four imposing columns; the two external ones were conceived as empty and have the function to substitute gargoyles. The breathtaking portal will be created by Antonelli’s son, Costanzo, in 1890; some people even believe it is the most imposing of Europe. In the interior, the space is divided in three naves composed of twelve columns made of plaster, to simulate the effect of marble, crowned by Corinthian capitals (crowning part of the column). Several historians have noticed a resemblance between the constructive sections of the cathedral’s naves and the ones of the Pantheon in Paris, to which Antonelli was acquainted and which he appreciated. The entablature is composed of twenty-seven niches on which appear different saints, worshiped by novara’s diocese, which propose a religious version of the arcades, so fashionable in the nineteenth century.