Gravina Co-Cathedral, Gravina in Puglia, Italy

Since 1986 Gravina Cathedral has served as a co-cathedral of the Diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti. It was built here at the end of the 11th century by Humphrey of Hauteville, Count of Apulia and Calabria, and thus lord of the town. This church was destroyed in the years 1447-1456 by a fire followed by an earthquake, after being refurbished in a Renaissance-Romanesque style. Of the original church only a few Byzantine capitals and frescoes remain. The present cathedral was built in the thirty years following, under the supervision of the bishop Matteo d'Aquino.

The main façade has a large rose window. The altarpieces are made from 17th-century intarsia with polychrome marble and mother of pearl. The ceiling has framed canvases. The church has an altarpiece carved in Bitonto stone (1468) by Guido da Guida. There is a San Michele (1538) carved in mazzaro, a local stone, and attributed to Stefano da Putignano. Along the north nave is a Byzantine fresco of the Madonna del Piede. The oak choir-stalls were made in the 15th century and rebuilt by Bishop Antonio Maria Manzolio (1581-1593).

The adjacent sacristy has a ceiling refurbished by bishop Manzolio, and elaborate presses. The bell-tower was built from a Norman watch tower.

References:

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User Reviews

Maria Di Dio (2 years ago)
Beautiful church. Interior with 3 naves with carved and gilded baroque wooden ceiling with 4 seventeenth-century canvases. To the left of the entrance there is a view of the ravine and the bridge.

Concetta Baroni (3 years ago)
?MAESTOSO ROMANICO FROM THE HEART OF PUGLIA Gravina di Puglia, a splendid town perched on the edge of a crevasse in the western Murgia. Guided tour of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. It is located close to the ravine "la gravina", stands out in its majesty in Piazza Benedetto XIII. In addition to being today the main place of Catholic worship in Gravina in Puglia, this building belonging to the Norman age is a real masterpiece, so much so that it was consecrated in 1993 by Pope John Paul II as a minor basilica.

Nicola Ventura (6 years ago)
Our Cathedral is unique!!! Come and visit it and the old Town of Gravina!

R Kangwa (6 years ago)
Contains great pieces of religious history connected to the Roman papacy, home to one of the Popes who was among the first to resign as Pope.

Richard Meadmore (6 years ago)
Non touristy quiet and beautiful

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Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.

Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.

There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.

Gravina Co-Cathedral

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