Andria Cathedral is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and is the seat of the Bishop of Andria. The present cathedral was built by the Norman Geoffrey of Hauteville, lord of Andria, on top of an earlier small church of the 7th-8th century, which forms the present crypt. It received further extensive refurbishment and reconstruction in the mid-14th century in the Late Gothic style, and again later in the Baroque style. The cathedral was severely damaged by a fire in 1916 and was again restored in 1965. The frequent rebuildings have given what is basically a Norman church a predominantly Late Gothic appearance.
The crypt, dedicated to the Holy Saviour (San Salvatore) - unlike the main cathedral, which is dedicated to the Assumption - contains the tombs of two of the wives of Emperor Frederick II, Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem (Yolande) and Isabella of England.
The cathedral owns a gold reliquary of special importance, and two major 19th-century paintings by Michele de Napoli.
References:The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.
The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.
The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.