Bitonto Cathedral (, ''Concattedrale di Maria SS. Assunta'') is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

in the city of

Bitonto Bitonto (; ) is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bari, in the Italian region of Apulia. It lies to the west of Bari. It is nicknamed the "City of Olives", due to the numerous olive groves surrounding the city. Geography Bitonto lies a ...

in the

Province of Bari The province of Bari (; ; ) was a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Bari. It has an area of , and a total population of 1,594,109 (2005). On 1 January 2015 it was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Bari. Lis ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

The cathedral, dedicated to

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, was the seat of the small Bishopric of Bitonto from the bishopric's foundation, believed to be in the 8th century, until 1818, when it was combined with the neighbouring Diocese of Ruvo to form the Diocese of Ruvo e Bitonto. This was separated again in 1982, and the Diocese of Bitonto, with Bitonto Cathedral as its seat, was briefly revived, but was combined with the Archdiocese of Bari in 1986 to form the

Archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto The Archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto () is Metropolitan Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the administrative Bari province, Puglia (Apulia) region, southeastern Italy (the 'Heel'), created in 1986, when the historical diocese of Bitonto wa ...

, in which Bitonto Cathedral is now a

co-cathedral A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or ''cathedra'', with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances o ...

Structure

The remains of a palaeochristian church, which predates by some centuries the establishment of the bishopric, have been discovered underneath the present building. The existing church however is a Romanesque building of the late 11th-12th centuries, influenced by the Basilica of San Nicola in

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

. The west front is divided into three parts and has three portals (the central one of which is sculpted with plant motifs and scenes from the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

), four mullioned windows and a

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

flanked by sculptures of animals supported by small columns. The interior has a nave and two aisles, and is also notable for its sculpture. The main artwork is the marble ambo, a combined

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

and

lectern A lectern is a standing reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of ...

, of 1229, a masterpiece of medieval

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

n stonecarving. In the

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

is a tile of a

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

, a survival from the predecessor church building.

References

Sources and external links

Catholic Hierarchy: Bitonto

History
{{coord, 41, 06, 23, N, 16, 41, 24, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title Roman Catholic cathedrals in Italy Cathedrals in Apulia

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Churches in the metropolitan city of Bari Romanesque architecture in Apulia Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan City of Bari

History

Structure

See also

References

Sources and external links