Gravina Cathedral, Minor basilica and co-cathedral in Gravina in Puglia, Italy
Gravina Cathedral is a three-nave church on Piazza Benedetto XIII, its facade divided by two pilasters into three portals, the central one unfinished, and a rose window surviving from the Romanesque church with a relief of the Assumption at its centre. The left portal is dated 1495. The Cappellone juts from the left nave over the ravine, with the oratory of the Holy Cross below and the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament above.
A cathedral existed here by 1065, built under Norman rule with three naves and flanking towers tied to the feudal castle. A fire around 1447 and the earthquake of 5 December 1456 destroyed it almost completely. Bishop Matteo D'Aquino (1482–1508), backed by the city, the cathedral chapter and Duke Francesco II Orsini, began the rebuilding, which Bishop Arcasio Ricci consecrated on 9 May 1632.
The church is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, and the rose window on the facade carries a bas-relief of the Assunta at its centre. The side chapels hold polychrome marble altars, mostly from around 1700, made by the Neapolitan Francesco Cimafonte; one chapel is dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, patron of Gravina. In the presbytery stands a carved wooden choir stall of 1561.
The cathedral sits on Piazza Benedetto XIII Papa in the city center and is easy to reach on foot. The interior is typically accessible during regular hours, and it rewards a slow pace to view the artworks scattered throughout.
Under the church lies a second three-nave church dedicated to the Holy Cross, known as the "cathedral abbey". It was originally a charnel house, cleared in 1633 by Bishop Arcasio Ricci and turned into a church; it keeps 16th-century fresco remains, a 17th-century stone altar and the tomb sculptures of local bishops.
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