Monopoli Cathedral

Monopoli Cathedral, otherwise the Basilica of the Madonna della Madia or Santa Maria della Madia (

.

The cathedral was granted the status of a

in 1921.

History

The cathedral was erected near the site of a Roman temple and burial site. Work began on it in 1107, but was supposedly halted for the lack of roof beams. A miracle occurred in 1117 when a raft carrying an icon of the Madonna drifted into the harbour. The raft beams were used to construct the roof.

The

in 1528. The remaining tower collapsed in 1686, killing forty townspeople. By 1693, a new campanile had been erected.

In 1738, an endowment by Bishop Giulio Sacchi called for a refurbishment. The old church was razed, and a new church begun in 1742. Work was completed in Baroque style in 1772.

In 1921, the cathedral was declared a minor basilica. In 1986, the dioceses of Monopoli and Conversano were joined, making this a co-cathedral.

On 1770, the icon of Our Lady of Madia was Crowned with a decree from Pope Clement XIII

The Chapel of Our Lady of Madia has elaborate polychrome decoration on the altar. The chapel contains two large canvases by Pietro Bardellino, and there are 6 small 18th-century paintings depicting the Life of the Virgin by Michele del Pezzo. A series of four paintings (1732) in the Chapel of the Martyrs by Michelangelo Signorile recounts the Miracle of the Raft.^[1]

References

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40°57′04″N 17°18′12″E / 40.9510°N 17.3033°E / 40.9510; 17.3033