Portico dei Templari, Medieval porch in Piazza Duomo, Brindisi, Italy.
The Portico dei Templari is a medieval loggia on Piazza Duomo in Brindisi, formed by two Gothic pointed arches of carparo stone separated by a Greek marble column topped with a capital carved with vine-leaf motifs. Its two cross vaults have two-coloured ribs of white stone and carparo. A modern imitation section added in the 1954-1958 restorations completes the structure.
The structure was built in the 12th or 13th century as part of an archbishop's palace and was later owned by the De Cateniano family. In the 16th century it was transferred to the civic hospital, where it served different purposes over time.
The building serves as the entrance to the Ribezzo Museum, housing medieval artifacts including a large stone sarcophagus beneath its cross-vaulted ceiling.
The loggia opens onto Piazza Duomo, beside the cathedral, and is reached on foot through Brindisi's historic centre. Since 1954-1958 it has been completed by a modern imitation section that forms the entrance to the Ribezzo Museum, so the medieval arches and the modern addition are seen together.
The Templar name comes from 18th-century erudition, which linked the loggia to remains of a Hospitaller church found in the same block but far away. Sixteenth-century records instead place it on the ground floor of the De Cateniano family palace.
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