| Taranto Cathedral is the oldest cathedral in Puglia.
In the heart of Taranto’s historical centre, in the district known as the “Borgo Antico” and commonly referred to as the “Old town” or “Città Vecchia” is the Cathedral of Saint Cataldo in all its monumental antiquity and beauty. Its configuration is the result of a winning combination of architecture from a variety of historical periods. The old medieval edifice should correspond to the ancient cathedral of Saint Mary, which certainly existed in the 7th century and was knocked down by Archbishop Drogone around 1070. Nothing remains of this building but small traces, principally visible in the crypt. The restoration works carried out in the 1950s revealed the Romanesque elements of the dome, visible in the interior nave. The facade and the chapels are by contrast from the Baroque period. We are therefore in front of a commission of diverse styles that only increase the artistic value and charm of this building.
In the last decades of the 11th century, Taranto was elevated to the status of a city. In that period the church was enlarged, as appropriate for a community lead by a city Archbishop. Berlingerio Tarentino attributes to Drogone the discovery of the sepulchre of Saint Cataldo, an Irish bishop who died in Taranto between the 6th and 7th centuries. The people of Taranto have always considered the body to be that of their greatest bishop, their patron, Saint Cataldo da Rachua, as is written on the small golden cross necklace found in the sarcophagus of the saint and conserved with the “treasure” of the cathedral. |