In the title compound, [Cd(2)Cr(2)O(8)(C(12)H(8)N(2))(4)]·2H(2)O, which was obtained by hydro-thermal reaction of CdCO(3) and phenanthroline with K(2)CrO(4) at 393 K, two distorted Cd(N(4)O(2)) octa-hedra are linked through μ(2)-bridging chromate anions, forming a centrosymmetric tetra-nuclear eight-membered ring complex. The water mol-ecules link the chromate O atoms via inter-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds. These aggregates pack to a three-dimensional network through weak inter-molecular C-H⋯O and C-H⋯π hydrogen-bonding contacts.