Bari Cathedral

Bari Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Bari), or Cathedral of Saint Sabinus (Cattedrale di San Sabino), is the cathedral of Bari, in Apulia, southern Italy. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Bari-Bitonto, as it was previously of the archbishops, earlier bishops, of Bari. It is dedicated to Saint Sabinus, a bishop of Canosa, whose relics were brought here in the 9th century. It is senior to, though less famous than, Apulia's Basilica of St Nicholas. The present building was constructed between the late 12th and late 13th centuries, mostly in the last thirty years of the 12th century, and was built on the site of the ruins of the Imperial Byzantine cathedral destroyed in 1156 by William I of Sicily known as the Wicked (il Malo); to the right of the transept it is still possible to observe traces of the original pavement which extends under the nave.

The documented presence of a bishop in Bari goes back to Gervasius, who attended the Council of Sardica in 347, and his successor Concordius, who was present at the Synod of Rome of 465, although names of their predecessors are preserved by tradition, beginning with Saint Maurus in the 1st century. The bishop was elevated to an archbishop in the 6th century, and the presence of a cathedral in Bari is ascertainable from the same period. Under the present nave are traces of an ancient church building with an apse, from the period before the first millennium, which had three aisles and square pilasters, and foundations on an axis slightly out of alignment with that of the present cathedral. One of the mosaic pavements bears an inscription with the name of Bishop Andrea (758 - 761) and it seems highly likely that these are the remains of the first cathedral, which was destroyed in the 9th or 10th century. In the first half of the 11th century, the then archbishop (1025–1035) ordered the construction of a new episcopal church, which was finished under his successors Nicola I (1035–1061) and Andrea II (1061–1068). This church was then destroyed by William the Wicked (William I of Sicily) along with the rest of the city (only the Basilica of St. Nicholas was spared), which took place in 1156. At the end of the 12th century Archbishop Rainaldo began the reconstruction of the cathedral, reusing materials from the preceding church and other destroyed buildings. Consecrated on 4 October 1292, the new cathedral was built in the style of the Basilica of St. Nicholas, which had served as the episcopal seat in the interim. During the 18th century the façade, the nave and aisles, the Trulla (the ancient baptistry of the 12th century, today the sacristy) and the crypt were refurbished in Baroque style under Archbishop Muzio Gaeta according to designs by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro. The building later underwent a series of refurbishments, demolitions and extensions. The original Romanesque appearance of the interior was restored in the 1950s. The last two restorations were those of, firstly, the late 20th century, which has restored the clarity of the Romanesque structures, and secondly, the 21st century, which has refurbished the interior.

Stylistically, this is an important example of Apulian Romanesque. The simple façade has three portals of the 11th century below a rose window, over which is a lintel carved with monsters and fantastic beasts. The campanile is new, rebuilt from stone similar to that of the original, with an elaborate lantern tower and beneath, the dome of the cupola with clear Moorish motifs.

Church data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).