| The monastery of St. Francesco Da Paola is an interesting religious building of the XVIth century.
The building of the monastery dated back to 11/02/1530, when Father Giuliano Genuese came to Monopoli that greeted him with great honours. He immediately received an existing church, dedicated to "Jesus and Mary", available for the worship and the lodging houses for Confraternity’fathers. This was the place where the current monastery was built gradually.
In 1603 the painter Bernardino Greco da Copertino began to make the frescoes in the cloister. He was also the author of the frescoes in the Minimi di Grottaglie monastery. In 1623 the Church had many important changes; the altars and the decorated plasters in particular. On 08/06/1645 a great relevance was given to the monastery when unanimously elected by the Town Hall, St. Francesco Da Paola became the patron of the town.A semicircular tympanum crowned the façade with pinnacles on the top; it is divided vertically into three parts by pilasters; horizontally, there are niches with two architectural orders. Below, there are many statues by Stefano da Putignano. Above the lintel of the portal there is St. Francesco Da Paola ’s bust |