Monopoli Cathedral has been since 1986 a co-cathedral in the Diocese of Conversano-Monopoli. The cathedral was erected near the site of a Roman temple and burial site. Work began on it in 1107, but was supposedly halted for the lack of roof beams. A miracle occurred in 1117 when a raft carrying an icon of the Madonna drifted into the harbour. The raft beams were used to construct the roof.
The Romanesque structure was not complete until 1442, when it was consecrated. Two of the three bell-towers were damaged during the siege of the Marquis Del Vasto in 1528. The remaining tower collapsed in 1686, killing forty townspeople. By 1693, a new campanile had been erected.
In 1738, an endowment by Bishop Giulio Sacchi called for a refurbishment. The old church was razed, and a new church begun in 1742. Work was completed in Baroque style in 1772. In 1921, the cathedral was declared a minor basilica. In 1986, the dioceses of Monopoli and Conversano were joined, making this a co-cathedral.
The Chapel of Our Lady of Madia has elaborate polychrome decoration on the altar. The chapel contains two large canvases by Pietro Bardellino, and there are 6 small 18th-century paintings depicting the Life of the Virgin by Michele del Pezzo. A series of four paintings (1732) in the Chapel of the Martyrs by Michelangelo Signorile recounts the Miracle of the Raft.
References:Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.
The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.
Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.