| The church of St. Teresa and its higher dome are dated back to the XVIIth century. On the inside, the church consists of volumes as a Mediterranean echo, a white and transparent oasis. The stuccoes above don't modify the light and the architectural harmony. Colourful details belong to wooden inserts and paintings instead of the side-chapels, the pipe-organ on the right (now it is in the oratory of Santissimo Sacramento), and the choir on the left, the austere and dark confessionals with a dark colour as the colour of the penance. The paintings in the side- chapels take the tourist/believer towards the large painting in the middle of the apse, with the impressive rise of the dome and its pedestal. On the outside, they were an orienteering urban symbol within the old town, as the square and the bell-town of S. Pietro were previously. In the first chapel, on the right, dedicated to Angelo Custode, the ancient baptismal font of St. Pietro church. Moreover, there is the chapel of “Cena di Emmaus”, the first of a group of five paintings from the church of St. Salvatore: a remarkable example of the late VXIth century of Manierismo in Puglia. It’s believed to be made by the artist Gaspar Hovic. Among these works of art, there is also Trasfigurazione, on the top right of the transept, made by neapolitan Andrea Mignolico who was in Bari in the early XVIIth century. In the side-chapels, the Crucifix with St. Francesco (e Papa in adorazione), made by an artist from Monopoli of XVI century, Vito Antonio Mariani. In front of this one, there is the painting of S. Pietro e Paolo, and Martirio di S. Paolo, that belonged to the church of S. Pietro. Its artistic details evoke the painting of S. Pietro by Guido Reni, that falling upside down on the cross, that is a precious copy of the original one preserved in picture gallery Vatican Museum. On the right top of the transept, the Ecstasy of St Teresa appears more“ephemeral” instead of the naked S. Pietro. The main painting made by I. Montella, Madonna e Santi stands out the apse, as a caravan during an easy rest in the desert. On the right side chapels there are S. Michele and S. Eudocia, the other two paintings from the church of S. Salvatore; on the left side chapels, there are Trinità e Santi, S. Gennaro, S. Carlo Borromeo, S. Biagio, S. Francesco di Sales. It is believed that the artists were Solimena and his school, or a disciple of Paolo De Matteis, like Giambattista Lama. There are wooden busts in the apse that are two reliquaries of S. Giovanni della Croce and S. Teresa d'Avila. The Crucifix of St Salvatore (dated to XVth –XVIth century) is believed to be the most precious relic of the church. It's widely believed that the church of St Teresa has a huge heritage paintings |