Cathedral · Apulian Romanesque · Matera, Basilicata

Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta

The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta in Matera, also known as the Duomo di Matera, is a masterpiece of Apulian Romanesque architecture completed in 1270. Occupying the highest ridge of the sassi city, the cathedral is dedicated to the Madonna della Bruna — patron of Matera — and to Saint Eustace. Its landmark campanile rises 52 metres above the ancient ravine landscape, while the interior preserves a rare 13th-century Italo-Byzantine fresco and carved choir stalls of 1453 within a space later enriched by Baroque gilded stucco.

At a glance

Type: Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Matera-Irsina
Period: Construction begun 1203; completed 1270
Style: Apulian Romanesque with later Baroque additions
Location: Matera, Basilicata, southern Italy
Coordinates: 40.8273° N, 16.5529° E
Dedication: Madonna della Bruna and Saint Eustace (dual dedication confirmed 1627)

Overview

Rising above the ancient sassi cave districts of Matera — a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993 — the cathedral commands one of the most dramatic urban silhouettes in southern Italy. Its Apulian Romanesque design follows a Latin cross plan with three naves divided by round arches resting on stone-capital columns. The west façade features a prominent rose window of sixteen rays, and the 52-metre campanile defines the skyline of the sasso Caveoso ravine. The cathedral was one of the principal monuments cited when Matera was named European Capital of Culture for 2019.

History

Construction commenced in 1203, the year Pope Innocent III elevated Matera to archdiocese status in union with Acerenza. The building was completed in 1270 on the site of an earlier Church of Saint Eustace, replacing it as the seat of the bishop. The cathedral’s dedication evolved over centuries: initially Santa Maria di Matera, it became Santa Maria dell’Episcopio by 1318 and Santa Maria della Bruna from 1389, reflecting the growing cult of the local Marian icon. The current dual dedication to both the Madonna della Bruna and Saint Eustace was formalised in 1627 by Archbishop Fabrizio Antinori. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the interior received extensive Baroque ornamentation including gilded stucco and decorative framing.

What you see

The interior measures 40 metres in length and 55 metres in width, reaching a maximum height of 60 metres. Three naves separated by columns with carved stone capitals create a rhythmically articulated space characteristic of southern Italian Romanesque. The earliest and most significant artwork is an Italo-Byzantine fresco of 1270, attributed to Rinaldo da Taranto, depicting the Madonna della Bruna with the Christ Child. The carved wooden choir stalls date to 1453 and were created by Giovanni Tantino; a nativity scene by Altobello Persio was added in 1534. A Chapel of the Annunciation survives in Renaissance style, while a 14th-century Last Judgment fresco was uncovered during modern restoration. The high altar displays a large altarpiece by Fabrizio Santafede representing the Virgin with Saints.

Cultural significance

The Cathedral of Matera stands at the symbolic centre of one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban landscapes in the world. As the focal point of the Festa della Bruna — Matera’s principal civic festival held every 2 July — it remains a living site of popular religious identity, not merely an architectural monument. Its inclusion within the UNESCO sassi site and its prominence during Matera 2019 European Capital of Culture cemented its status as one of the most resonant cultural landmarks of the Italian Mezzogiorno.

Practical information

Address: Piazza del Duomo, 75100 Matera MT, Italy
Opening hours: Check official website for current visiting hours; typically open daily with restricted hours during liturgical events
Admission: Free entry; donations welcomed

Getting there

Matera is accessible by the private Ferrovie Appulo Lucane (FAL) railway from Bari (approximately 1.5 hours), connecting to the national rail network at Bari Centrale. By car, take the SS7 (Via Appia) or the SS99 from Altamura. The nearest airports are Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport (BRI, approximately 65 km) and Brindisi Airport (BDS, approximately 130 km). Matera’s historic centre is best explored on foot from Piazza Vittorio Veneto.

Sources & resources

The Church of Santa Maria Assunta is the Cathedral of Altamura and the Cathedral of the diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti.



The city of Altamura was repopulated by Emperor Frederick II in the first half of the 13th century. In this same period, between 1232 and 1254, the cathedral dedicated to the Assumption was erected at the behest of the emperor himself, the first and oldest monument in the city, with the facade originally facing the city of Gravina.



Almost all openings have pointed Gothic arches, without excluding an immediate influence of Arab-Norman architecture. Frederick built it as a palatine chapel, and therefore with exemption privileges from any jurisdiction other than that of the sovereign.



Subsequent sovereigns confirmed these privileges until 1929, when, following the Lateran Pacts, for the first time a pope of Rome was able to appoint the bishop of the cathedral. According to what has been handed down by some local historians of previous centuries, the Cathedral of Altamura was built on a pre-existing pagan temple.



Domenico Santoro (1688) hypothesizes that it may have been a temple dedicated to Castor and Pollux, since two statues of Castor and Pollux were visible on the capitals of the cathedral choir at least until the eighteenth century.



Recent archaeological excavations have confirmed the influence of Magna Graecia in the area of the city of Altamura, in particular between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC.



The priest Don Vitangelo Frizzale (1755), on the other hand, reports that the previous temple was a temple of two-faced Janus, therefore a purely Roman deity. According to some, this news was supported by the presence of a two-faced herm on the cusp of the ancient facade of the cathedral.



The recent cleaning and restoration works of the cathedral have highlighted how it is, instead, a stone sculpture of the head of a Saracen. The sculpture had an apotropaic function, and evoked the fears of a Saracen invasion, which in the sixteenth century became a real threat to Christian Europe.



In an inscription in Latin in Gothic characters above the so-called Angevin door (in the past also called &quot;door of the apothecaries&quot;) it is written that the church collapsed on 29 January 1316 and was rebuilt with the help of Bitontine workers (the sons by Mastro Consiglio da Bitonto).



The first to read and correctly translate the inscription into Latin was Ottavio Serena, as he himself states in his &quot;Storia di Altamura&quot; (second half of the nineteenth century). Previous historians had mistranslated the inscription (which in itself is ruined and written in a somewhat ungrammatical Latin) and believed that the inscription referred to a privilege that Altamura enjoyed for which the mayor of Bitonto used to come to Altamura to get the price list of the various foods and to disclose it to the entire province.



In 1485 the church was elevated to the rank of distinguished collegiate church and this led to an increase in the number of priests who officiated in the cathedral and therefore the need to increase the space of the presbytery and choir area. There is debate among scholars and historians on the alleged inversion of the orientation of the church carried out in the sixteenth century to achieve a greater depth of the choir: some argue that the entire facade, with portal and rose window, was dismantled and repositioned where it is now; others, on the other hand, argue the impossibility of this operation and therefore affirm that the current prospectus retains a physiognomy very close to the Federician original.



The reality of the facts, in the light of the latest restoration, is that the facade has never been moved (proof of this during the restoration of the trusses the Romanesque &quot;hanging arches&quot; that adorned the original 13th century facade were found), but simply the current one is nothing more than the readjustment of the fa&ccedil;ade that in the Frederick era enclosed the three apses (one of which is visible today as it is the housing of the great baptistery, to the left of the fourteenth-century portal).



This operation will be followed, later in the years, by the expansion of the choir. It is visible from the outside due to the marked diversity of the segments. That limit now clearly visible for anyone visiting the basilica from its churchyard, is the precise point where the first facade stood in the thirteenth century.



In the 16th century, a symmetrical one was added to the existing bell tower; later they were lengthened and completed with the addition of two bell cells in the eighteenth century. The rich decoration of the side altars and the main altar (1793) also date back to the eighteenth century. Instead it is the result of the modernization work carried out between 1850 and 1860 by the architect Travaglini the neo-Gothic style decoration that covers the whole church (central nave and side aisles) in two-color alternating with gilds and stuccos.



During the so-called Revolution of Altamura (1799), the priest of the cathedral Nicola Popolizio, who took an active part in the revolt, was tortured to death in the portico in front of the same cathedral; the canon Celio Colonna was slaughtered inside the cathedral while praying in the chapel of San Giuseppe.



Another noteworthy chapel is that of Santa Rosalia, which is due to the archpriest of the cathedral Pietro Magri (1622-1688), a native of Palermo.



With royal decree n. 1746 of 21 November 1940, the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta in Altamura is recognized as an Italian national monument.

https://culturalheritageonline.com/places/cathedral-of-santa-maria-assunta-l4647/

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