| Due to a miraculous escape of the small statue of St. Antonio from Padova, the church of Madonna delle Grazie, was probably built around 1600 and renamed as the church of St. Antonio. Because of the fact that in the old centre of Monopoli there are already five churches and the town was going to widen, Monsignore Nicola Monterisi, Bishop of Diocese, in 1919 with an official decree transferred the title of Parish from the church of St. Salvatore to the church of S. Antonio. Originally, the church was included into the Monastery of the friars Minori Osservanti. But for the expulsion of friars in 1853, the area in front of the church that is used to be a parade ground for military exercises and the church itself became a Monopoli Town- hall estate. Nowadays, the area is a public garden where a memorial stone of the Monopolitan musician Orazio Fiume (1908-1976) is placed.
On the inside, the single nave church has side chapels equipped by the richest families of Monopoli who built altars, marble tombs and commissioned paintings. The first on the right is the Chapel Piccigalli; and the Chapel of the family Cortes, who were from Spain, the Chapel Palmieri, in which there is the painting of St. Antonio by Costantino from Monopoli. The fourth chapel is dedicated to St. Pasquale Baylon with a wooden statue of the saint. The last one is called Cappella Sforza. On the other side there are: Cappella Ghezzi, Cappella della Passione, (with a wooden statue of XVth century), Cappella Taveri, Cappella Isplues (another family from Spain). In the presbitery, there is a XVth century painting from the venetian school dedicated to Madonna delle Grazie.
The most precious painting of the church is St. Antonio by Costantino from Monopoli.
During the 2nd World War , part of the bell tower was destroyed by an Austrian air raid. Nowadays, the bell tower stands out, thanks to the rebuilding that Don Vito Bini wanted. |