Description
Brindisi Cathedral, dedicated to the Visitation and to Saint John the Baptist, towers over Piazza Duomo in the heart of the old town. Kings were crowned and imperial weddings celebrated here: it's worth a visit for its history and for the treasures that survived the earthquakes.
Pope Urban II consecrated it in 1089, and it was finished in 1143, in Norman times. The earthquake of 1743 badly damaged it, and it was rebuilt three years later; of the Romanesque church, the floor plan remains, with three naves and no transept, similar to that of San Nicola in Bari.
Inside, fragments survive of the mosaic floor from 1178, with figures and motifs close to the famous mosaic of Otranto, made a few years earlier. Outside, on the right apse, a cornice rests on carved elephant heads: another remnant of the medieval cathedral.
The Chapel of Saint Theodore of Amasea holds the remains of the martyr, patron saint of Brindisi together with Saint Lawrence. The relics lie in a precious reliquary chest, partly the work of 13th-century Dalmatian goldsmiths, which also tells the story of their arrival in the city.
Also worth a look are the wooden choir from 1594, carved by local craftsmen, the 16th-century baptismal font and several 18th-century paintings. On the facade, divided into three sections like the naves, stand four statues of saints in pale Lecce stone, 2.90 meters tall.
Tradition has it that the ship carrying the relics of Saint Theodore, in the time of Frederick II, was forced to land at Brindisi: as if the saint himself had wanted it. In 2010 his chapel was declared "ecumenical," a place of prayer for Catholics and Orthodox Christians.
In 1193 Roger, son of Tancred, was crowned King of Sicily here: he was the first Norman ruler to take the throne outside Palermo. That same year, in the same church, he married Irene, daughter of Isaac II Angelos, Emperor of Constantinople.
On November 9, 1225, Emperor Frederick II married Isabella of Brienne, Queen of Jerusalem, who was just thirteen, here. Next to the cathedral rise the bell tower, finished in 1795, and the Seminary palace.
In the 15th century, travelers told of a vase kept in the cathedral and believed to be one of the six jars from the wedding at Cana, brought to Brindisi by the crusaders.
Don't miss
• The mosaic floor from 1178.
• The Chapel of Saint Theodore of Amasea.
• The reliquary chest of Saint Theodore.
• The wooden choir from 1594.
• The elephant heads on the apse.
Did you know?
• The Seminary next door was built in the 18th century with materials from the ruined Basilica of San Leucio.
• In 1867 Pope Pius IX raised the cathedral to the rank of minor basilica.
Pope Urban II consecrated it in 1089, and it was finished in 1143, in Norman times. The earthquake of 1743 badly damaged it, and it was rebuilt three years later; of the Romanesque church, the floor plan remains, with three naves and no transept, similar to that of San Nicola in Bari.
Inside, fragments survive of the mosaic floor from 1178, with figures and motifs close to the famous mosaic of Otranto, made a few years earlier. Outside, on the right apse, a cornice rests on carved elephant heads: another remnant of the medieval cathedral.
The Chapel of Saint Theodore of Amasea holds the remains of the martyr, patron saint of Brindisi together with Saint Lawrence. The relics lie in a precious reliquary chest, partly the work of 13th-century Dalmatian goldsmiths, which also tells the story of their arrival in the city.
Also worth a look are the wooden choir from 1594, carved by local craftsmen, the 16th-century baptismal font and several 18th-century paintings. On the facade, divided into three sections like the naves, stand four statues of saints in pale Lecce stone, 2.90 meters tall.
Tradition has it that the ship carrying the relics of Saint Theodore, in the time of Frederick II, was forced to land at Brindisi: as if the saint himself had wanted it. In 2010 his chapel was declared "ecumenical," a place of prayer for Catholics and Orthodox Christians.
In 1193 Roger, son of Tancred, was crowned King of Sicily here: he was the first Norman ruler to take the throne outside Palermo. That same year, in the same church, he married Irene, daughter of Isaac II Angelos, Emperor of Constantinople.
On November 9, 1225, Emperor Frederick II married Isabella of Brienne, Queen of Jerusalem, who was just thirteen, here. Next to the cathedral rise the bell tower, finished in 1795, and the Seminary palace.
In the 15th century, travelers told of a vase kept in the cathedral and believed to be one of the six jars from the wedding at Cana, brought to Brindisi by the crusaders.
Don't miss
• The mosaic floor from 1178.
• The Chapel of Saint Theodore of Amasea.
• The reliquary chest of Saint Theodore.
• The wooden choir from 1594.
• The elephant heads on the apse.
Did you know?
• The Seminary next door was built in the 18th century with materials from the ruined Basilica of San Leucio.
• In 1867 Pope Pius IX raised the cathedral to the rank of minor basilica.