Castellaneta Cathedral

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The cathedral is under renovation and 2 years of construction is expected.

Where the ancient city has a spectacular view over the ravine, this cathedral has been the center of the city's religious life for centuries. The first cathedral on the site was dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Bari, and is from the Norman occupation of the last decades of the 11th century, after the foundation of the episcopal see. But the oldest surviving architectural remains are from the 14th century: the bell tower with a series of small arches connected in the lower order and elegant double lancet windows in the higher order. In the 14th century it was replaced by a Romanesque structure with a basilica design of a central nave and two corridors separated by columns with semicircular apses. The dedication was changed at this time to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Later three chapels were added: the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in 1538, the Chapel of Maria Consoladora in 1643, both founded by brotherhoods; and the Chapel of the Holy Crucifix. The building that we see today is the product of radical construction and decorative works from the 17th and 19th centuries. There are three portals within the lower order compartments; the central one has the same circular tympanum and the lateral portals are framed by architraves surrounded by oval windows. The upper order, delimited laterally by two connected scrolls flanked by the statues of San Nicolás and San Gennaro, comprises a large window with a tympanum in the center, ending at the top with a raised baluster and the statues of the Four Cardinal Virtues . The presbytery area is connected to the main body of the cathedral and ends in an apse with a coffered shell and a hanging dome. The side aisles are interspersed with pairs of semi-columns. The central nave preserves a wooden ceiling divided into 11 compartments, bordered by cornices that frame the paintings of the Evangelists, the Four Cardinal Virtues of the 18th century and scenes that represent Saint Nicholas liberating Diodatus at Lord Agareno's banquet, the Coronation of Our Lady of the Assumption and the Fall of the rebel angels. Among the rich decorations and the side chapels are the statues of San Pedro and San Pablo from the 16th century at the end of the nave, attributed to Stefano de Putignano. Also the paintings by Domenico Carella, among which are two large canvases placed facing each other in the presbytery that portrays the Philistines returning the Ark to the chosen people (1802) on the left, and David dancing before the Ark (1801 ) to the right; and the three oils of The Communion of Saint Peter, The Sacrifice of Isaac and The Wedding Feast at Cana, which adorn the outstanding chapel of the Holy Sacrament. Also the precious high altar in polychrome marble from 1772; the oil paintings from the 18th century on the back, and the first silver bust of Saint Nicholas of Neapolitan origin (1756) found in the chapel of Saint Nicholas at the end of the right aisle.

Sober externally, even fascinating. Baroque interior with a splendid coffered frescoed ceiling. Wonderful polychrome marble of the columns.

Wonderful, the splendor of the coffered painted ceiling and the marble columns are just some of the elements that impress the visitor. This cathedral and Castellaneta are really worth seeing