360

Cathedral

Year of construction XI secolo

AddressPiazza de Martino

Coordinates40.6294141,16.94130199999995

Church

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Cathedral of Castellaneta, or church of Our Lady of the Assumption
Piazza Federico de Martino

First exterior scene

The original church, dedicated to the patron saint of Castellaneta St. Nicholas, was built in the second half of the 11th century and renovated several times. In the 14th century it was rebuilt following the Apulian Romanesque style and dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, while in the 17th and 18th century the new Baroque taste erased almost every trace of the original structure.

In 1771, an elegant white limestone façade, restored in 2008, replaced every trace of the Romanesque-Gothic forms that characterized it in the past. Some traces, however, are still visible in the bell tower on the left side and in the neoclassical three-aisled interior. It has a double order of entablatures crowned by a balustrade and divided by double lesenes with composite capitals. In the first order there is the main portal with an arched tympanum and two smaller doors surmounted by oval windows in the upper part and two amphorae in the lower one. In the first balustrade, embellished by two side volutes with palmettes and pinecones, there are the statue of St. Januarius and St. Nicholas. In the middle there is a large rectangular window with curved pediment that houses the glass image of St. Nicholas.
The second order ends with the statues of the four cardinal virtues, Prudence, Temperance, Justice and Fortitude.

Second exterior, parvis

On the portal, embellished by flowers and leaves, there is the coat of arms of the current Bishop of the diocese, Mgr. Claudio Maniago, a star and a winged hand holding the pastoral on a blue background, with the motto “IN MANUS TUAS”, “in Your hands”.

The pronaos was built in 1848, with seven steps and a stone balustrade that serves as parvis.

On the left side of the cathedral there is the ancient bell tower, squared and divided by a slight trabeation: in the lower part there are trilobic arches and animal masks, while in the upper part you can find the bell cell.

First interior scene

The cathedral has three naves ending in three apses; the central one has an apsidal conch. The main nave is covered by a precious wooden ceiling and it is separated from the two aisle by double columns in marbled stucco with composite capitals. It is lit by five windows on each side. The barrel vaulted side aisles have semi-columns leaning against the walls.

At the entrance there is a pair of neoclassical stoups dating back to 1846, in white marble with a circular base resting on an octagonal prism and marbles. On the shaft the emblem of the Bishop Mgr. Lepore, the client.

Second interior scene

The ceiling, attributed to the painter Giuseppe Porta di Molfetta (1693 – 1749) and built between 1733 and 1739, was commissioned in 1739 by Mgr. Filo, as you can read from the inscription on the presbytery arch: “TEMPLUM HOC / MAXENTIUS FILO CASTELL. EPCUS / CONTIGNATIONE ORNANDUM / EUMDEMQUE INAURANDUM / ET SACRIS IMAGINIBUS DIPINGENDUM / CURAVIT / A.D. MDCCXXXIX”. It is painted on a wooden planking and it is divided into three large panels and eleven compartments, which house the four cardinal virtues and the four Evangelists.

On the first panel “St.  Nicholas frees Diodato during the banquet of King Agareno”, in which St. Nicholas, surrounded by clouds of angels and cherubs, raises the pastoral with his left hand and with his right hand Diodato from his hair; below the king Agareno and his guests.

In the central panel the “Coronation of the Virgin”: below the astonished apostles and above the Holy Trinity, with a dove to represent the Holy Spirit.  The Father and the Son seat in the clouds, and the latter holds in his hands the crown to be placed on His mother’s head.

Third interior scene

On the right the walnut pulpit made by Carmelo De Angelis in 1780, with a fringed canopy and a golden dove in the centre. The wrought-iron staircase was commissioned by Mgr. De Martino and built in 1910 by Domenico Miraglia.

A plaque on the left of the portal commemorates the generosity of the Bishop Mgr.  Lepore, to whom the church owes the current structure and furnishings. Under the coat of arms you can read: “DOM / DOMINE PETRO LEPORE/PATRITIO TRANENSI/PRAESULI DIOECESIS CASTELLANETEN MUNIFICENTISSIMO/QUOD SEMINARIUM EREXERIT SINODUM HABUERIT/AERE INSUPER SUO/ ECCLESIAM HANC PAVIMENTO EXQUADRATIS TESSERIS LATERITIO OPERE/ EXORNAVERIT/ POSITIS MARMOREIS CONCHIS DUOBUS ET CATHEDRIS POENITENTIALIBUS/ GRADIBUS ETIAM AD THRONUM SUUM MARMOREIS/BAPTISTERIUM VERO FERREIS CANCELLIS MUNIVERIT/SACRARIUM OMNI PONTIFICALI APPARATO INSTRUXERIT/PRONAUM SATIS LAXUM AEDI DEDERIT/ TEMPLUM ET ALTARIA ADDITIS IN PERPETUUM XL DIERUM INDULGENTIIS/DIE SECUNDA MENSIS APRILIS ANNI 1848 SOLEMNI RITO DEDICAVERIT/OB SINGULARIA TANTI ANTISTITIS MERITA / ERECTUS EST HIC LAPIS / GRATI OMNIUM ANIMI PERENNE MONUMENTUM/A.R.S. MDCCCXLVIII”.

Fourth interior scene

On two pedestals, on both sides of the staircase leading to the presbytery, there are two stone statues covered in polished white stucco of the Saints Peter and Paul, dating back to the first half of the 16th century and attributed to Stefano of Putignano. Both are represented in the act of reading a book, but St. Peter, with short beard, holds two keys in the right hand while St. Paul, long hair and beard, holds a sword in his left hand.

In the last panel of the ceiling “The fall of the rebel angels”: in the upper part the Archangel Michael holds a sword with his right hand and indicates with the other the inscription on a shield brought by angels, while below the rebel angels fall out of the grace of God.

Fifth interior scene

Six steps and an elegant polychrome marble balustrade lead to the presbytery, where you can find the choir with wooden seats and the high altar.

The floor is in white and grey marble. At the end of the nave, in front of the stairway to the presbytery, there is the marble coat of arms of the Bishop Mgr. Bacile with the inscription “MARMOREUM HOC PAVIMENTUM / A.D. MDCCCLXXXV STRUCTUM EST / D.D. CAIETANO BACILE EPO CASTAN. / ET ARCHID. F.P. MALDARIZZI ECCL. OEC. / CURANTIBUS”.

In front of the altar another plaque, in memory of the refurbishment of the presbytery desired by the Bishop Leonardo Vitetta (1764-1778).
From the door on the left, you can enter the sacristy.

Sixth interior scene

On the sides of the main altar the choir, consisting of a double order of wooden seats separated by semi-columns with Ionic capitals.

On the right the old episcopal seat is enriched on the back by three friezes, including the coat of arms of the client, the Bishop Mgr. de Mattheis, (an arm with a sword against a snake and three stars and a dog on a bridge at the bottom), and one in the centre depicting a crowned eagle.  On the left a more modern seat with double columns and Corinthian capitals, with the coat of arms of Mgr. Maniago on the back (On a blue background, a star and a winged hand holding the pastoral with the motto “IN MANUS TUAS”, “In Your hands”), current Bishop of the diocese, and on the top the emblem of the client Mgr. Potenza with the motto “TAMQUAM TURRIS FORTITUDINIS” (“As firm as a tower”).

Seventh interior scene

The presbytery, covered by a decorated dome with central rosette and connected by four pendentives, is enriched by marble inlays and a triumphal arch ending with white marble angel-shaped heads on Corinthian capitals.

On the sides of the choir there are two balconies containing the rococo style organs, with nine reeds each.

The two large paintings are on the left “The Philistines return the Ark to the Chosen people” and on the right “David dancing before the Ark” by Domenico Carella, painted in 1802 and 1801.

At the end of the presbytery the high altar in polychrome marble, built in 1772. Very particular the frontal, with two angels in relief, volutes with angel-shaped torch holders and the ciborium crowned by three angel heads in Neapolitan school style. Behind the altar there is a painting depicting Our Lady of the Assumption, on the left a St. Januarius, dating back to the end of the 18th century, with three angels bringing his pastoral, the ampoules and the palm of martyrdom, and on the right “St.  Nicholas resuscitates the children”, of the same period.

A coffered semi-circular conch built around the central oval window covers the apse.

Right aisle, first altar

In the right aisle there are five altars dating back to the 19th century.  The first one is dedicated to St. Francis Xavier, “for the devotion of the Rev.  Pellegrino Giovanni A.D. 1936”.

Second altar

Altar with inlaid polychrome marbles dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, built in 1893. Beautiful the volutes, the ciborium with the bas-relief of a dove and the urn with a cross on the frontal.  Marble pilasters with Corinthian capitals and a rose with the image of the Virgin and Child on the pediment frame the niche.

Third altar

Altar of St. Francis of Paola with marble inlays.  Built in 1888, it has a triangular tympanum that houses the dove of the Holy Spirit and two angels.

Fourth altar

Altar dedicated to St. Roch.

Fifth altar

Renovated in 1857, it is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.  On the left of the altar there is the coat of arms of the Bishop Mgr. D’Avanzo and on the right a plaque with the following inscription: “A.X.O / ALTARE HOC DE MARMORE VARIO / BARTHOLOMEUS D’AVANZO / EPUS CASTELLEN / DOMIN. I ADV. AN. MDCCCLVII / D.D.D. / IN LAUDEM AC HONOREM / MARIAE DOMINAE NOSTRAE / PETRO PER PIUUM IX / DIE VIII XBRIS MDCCCLIV / IAM LOQUUTO / SINE LABE ORIGINALI CONCEPTAE / CUIUS SIMULACRUM PRAETIOSA CORONA ORNATUM / NEAPOLI PARITER AFFABRE SCULPTUM / ECCLESIAE SUAE CATHEDRALI / RITE COLENDUM LARGITUR / FILIUS ATQUE DEIPARA / PRO PASTORE ET GREGE / INTERPELLENT”, in memory of the proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception on the 8th December 1854.

Right chapel

The chapel of St. Nicholas, built by the Confraternity of the Sacrament in 1619 thanks to a donation from the nobleman Nicolò D’Ancher, is barrel-vaulted, decorated with stuccos and lit by a circular window.

The altar, in polychrome marble, was created by the Neapolitan artists Carlo and Vincenzo Ferrara in 1777. On the sides there are the emblems of Mgr. Vitetta, surmounted by the niche with the half-bust silver statue of the saint, created in 1756 on commission of Mons. Filo.

At the centre of the chapel, on the floor, a plaque indicates the sepulchre of the bishops: “SEPULCRUM ANTISTITUM / CASTANENSIUM / A.D. MDCCCLXXV”.

On the left wall a memorial of the ninth centenary of the diocese and ten decades of the first diocesan eucharistic congress (A.D.  MCMLXXXVIII).

Left aisle, chapel of the Most Holy Trinity

The chapel of the Holy Trinity, founded in the 16th century and renovated in the 18th century, has a marble floor including the headstone of the sepulchre of the Chapter with the emblem and the words: OSSA HAEC UNIVERSA / DOMUS ISRAEL EST / EZECH. XXXVII XI / A.D. MDCCLXXVIII.

The marble altar is the work of the Neapolitans artists Carlo and Vincenzo Ferrara and dates back to 1777, like that in the chapel of St. Nicholas. On both sides you can find the marble emblem of the Confraternity of the Holy Sacrament. The ancient decoration in carved and gilded wood has two columns with vegetal motifs on each side and two niches containing on the left a statue of St. John the Baptist and of St. Leonard on the right, while other two small niches above host St. Joseph and St. Anne. In the centre the painting of the Holy Trinity, dating back to the second half of the 18th century.

On the left side there is a plaque, “GREGORIUS EPS.  SERVUS SERVORU DEI” which commemorates how the altar was privileged in 1581.

Sacristy, first room

In a room linking the nave with the sacristy you can find some of the statues carried during the procession of Good Friday and called “Mysteries”. On the walls two paintings, on the right “St. Nicholas slaps Arius at the Council of Nicea” and on the left “St. Nicholas consecrates the pagan forest”, painted on commission of the Confraternity of the Holy Sacrament for the chapel of St. Nicholas and dating back to the second half of the 17th century.

Sacristy

The sacristy has a stuccoed vault and a circular apse covered by a coffered semi-circular conch. The tuff altar is surrounded by niches containing relics from the church of St. Dominic.

On the right wall a large painting of the Virgin with Child and Saints in the act of giving the lily to St. Philip Neri, painted by Domenico Carella in 1801.

On the back of the sacristy there is an ancient balcony from where it is possible to admire the underlying gravina, which in this point is about 150 meters deep.

Left aisle, in front of the first chapel

In the left aisle, just before the sacristy and where the church once bordered with a cemetery, there are three chapels added over the centuries. The first chapel is dedicated to the Virgin of the Consolation.

First chapel on the left, interior

Built in 1643 and restored several times during the 18th and 19th centuries, as you can read from the plaque “A DEVOZIONE DELLA CONFRATERNITA DEL SACRAMENTO A.D. 1929” its construction was funded by the Confraternity of the Holy Sacrament.

The vault is barrelled with hanging arches, while the presbytery is covered by a dome with a blind lantern connected by four pendentives. The niche on the altar, which dates back to the 18th century, is framed by limestone volutes and a crown-shaped finial held up by two angels. Two Corinthian columns support the curvilinear broken tympanum, with a stucco bas-relief in the centre representing the Holy Spirit and angel heads.

The niche houses a wooden statue Our Lady of the Consolation created between 1643 and 1668. The Virgin holds the Child with her left hand and wears a blue tunic embroidered with vegetal motifs in gold, a white cloak and a silver crown.

From this chapel it is possible to reach the belfry through a spiral staircase.

Second chapel on the left, exterior

The central chapel is dedicated to the Holy Sacrament, once worshipped on the high altar.

Second chapel, interior

The second chapel is dedicated to the Holy Sacrament. Built in 1538, it was renovated in the 18th century and consecrated in 1758. It has a marble floor with the inscription “DOM / QUISQUIS ES / SISTE / SODALIBUS ALIISQUE / HIC QUIESCENTIBUS / AETERNAM PRECARE / REQUIEM / ABI / A.D.  MDCCLXXXIX”, groined vault and, on the presbytery with a marble balustrade, a false dome connected by four pendentives.

The polychrome marble altar has a marble balustrade identical to that in the central nave. The Confraternity of the Sacrament built it in 1758. The frontal is delimited by pillars with volutes that support the table, while the ciborium is surmounted by symmetrical volutes and winged heads. The baldaquin is made of green marble columns with Corinthian capitals and broken tympanum with two marble cherubs kneeling on the base that houses the ostensory.

On the back wall the decoration repeats that of the baldaquin, with pilasters ending in winged heads and the tympanum framing the bas-relief of the Eternal Father.

The plaque says: “DOM / AC. S. CAIET. THI. DICATUM / SEPTIMO IDUS MENS. SEXTILIS / ALTARE HOC / SACRATISSIMI CORPORIS CHRIST. /NOMINE INCAENIATUM / ILL.MUS AC REV.MUS D. MAXENTIUS FILO / CASTELLANETEN. EPISC. / SOLEMNI RITU CONSECRAVIT / SS.MI MODESTIS ET GRATI RELIQ. / ADPOSUIT / A.R.S. / MDCCLVIII / PRAESULATUS SUI / XXV”, during the consecration of the altar in 1758.

On the left the oil on canvas “Marriage at Cana” painted by Domenico Carella in 1797. Near the altar, on the left, “Last Supper”, oil on canvas by Salvatore Massafra.

On the right “Sacrifice of Isaac” by Domenico Carella, oil on canvas of the late 18th century. On the right near the altar “Communion of St. Peter”, oil on canvas by Domenico Carella, 1796.

To the left of the entrance a plaque remembers a restoration financed by the donations of the faithful in 1935.

Third chapel, exterior

The third chapel is dedicated to the Holy Crucifix.

Third chapel, interior

The chapel has a barrel vault with a decorated central conch.

The altar in polychrome marble is surmounted by a ciborium with a dove and two heads of angels. In the niche there are two statues of the Virgin and St. John the Baptist and a Crucifix created in 1492 by an unknown Neapolitan artist.

On the left “Jesus falling under the Cross”, oil on canvas, first half of the 19th century.
On the right “The Pity”, donated in 1834 by Francesco Morea and Cristina Sanseverino. In the four tondos, painted between 1828 and 1836, some scenes of the Passion of Christ: the Flagellation, the Deposition from the Cross, Christ praying in the garden and Christ crowned with thorns.

Bell tower

The bell cell, covered with a barrel vault, is lit by mullioned windows with columns and capitals decorated by vegetal motifs. It houses four bells: the two bigger ones were donated by Mgr. Positano in 1877 and Mgr. De Nittis in 1905 and fused by Giuseppe Olita from Lecce. The two small ones, added in 1959 and 1975, were donated by Rev. Luigi Gozzi and made by the Giustozzi foundry of Trani.

Roof

The Cathedral of Castellaneta, dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption and at first to St. Nicholas, stands on the edge of the ravine and on the highest point of the ancient urban centre. With its unmistakable profile visible from every point of the city it is a real jewel of the typical Apulian Romanesque style and of the history, art and devotion of the city and its inhabitants. The original church, built with the institution of the Bishop’s seat in the last decades of the year 1000, has almost completely disappeared; it is thought that it had a perpendicular orientation to the current one, and that the main portal was in via Muricello, a near side alley.