| From the peak of the hill of Altolido the small medieval church of San Mauro near Sannicola looks on to a broad sweep of coastline between Santa Maria al Bagno and Gallipoli. The structure was once attached to an Italo-Greek monastic settlement established before 1149 and perhaps subordinated to the larger monastic community of Santa Maria di Nardò. The façade is in keeping with the bleak and rocky landscape, with a simple two-sided pitched roof surmounted by a small bell-gable, the doorway and a high window.
Inside, two rows of quadrangular pillars and ogival arches separate the central nave from the two lateral ones. The central nave is covered by a barrel vault and the lateral naves by semi-barrel vaults, a typical architectural model in Puglia. Particularly valuable, despite being only partially legible, are the internal frescoes, dated to the second half of the 13th century, which attest to the influence of Byzantine pictorial culture in the medieval Salento. On the central vault parts of a Gospel cycle survive, including the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, Baptism of Christ, Last Supper, Kiss of Judas (in which, reflecting the climate of the crusades at that time, Muslim warriors prepare to intervene), Crucifixion, Holy Women at the Sepulchre – and busts of prophets framed with shields. Below, on the underside of the arches, are various eastern saints and monks, who were particularly venerated by the resident Italo-Greek monastic community. |