Architecture sights in Bari
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
Basilica di San Nicola
Northwest past the small Chiesa di Santa Ana is the remarkable Basilica di San Nicola, one of the south’s first Norman churches. It’s a splendid example of Puglian-Romanesque style, built to house the relics of St Nicholas (better known as Father Christmas), which were stolen from Turkey in 1087 by local fishermen. His remains are said to emanate a miraculous manna liquid with special powers. For this reason – and because he is also patron saint of prisoners and children – the basilica remains an important place of pilgrimage. The interior is huge and simple with a decorative 17th-century wooden ceiling. The magnificent 13th-century ciborium over the altar is Puglia’s old…
reviewed
-
B
Cattedrale San Sabino
Just north of Strada Lamberti, the tortuous alleyways open out into Largo San Sabino where you're faced with the huge construct that makes up the Museo Diocesano and the Cattedrale San Sabino. Most people assume that the Basilica of San Nicola is Bari's main cathedral but this pearly white church dedicated to Bishop San Sabino is really the main seat of worship.
Like the Basilica, the cathedral was begun during the Byzantine era (1034), but when the city revolted against William II of Sicily, he razed it to the ground. It was rebuilt between 1170 and 1178 in a simple Romanesque style with a wide nave and shallow transepts and a 35m-high cupola. Typical of the style, deep…
reviewed
-
Porta dei Leoni
Heading north up Strade del Carmine will bring you to the doorstep of the Basilica di San Nicola, the first great Norman church in the south and the template for the restrained Puglian-Romanesque style that informed the architecture of so many of the region's churches.
At first site the façade seems shockingly plain, its odd triangular shape rearing up before you in white limestone blocks, flanked by two stunted towers (destroyed by earthquakes). It has a massive solidity and spareness about it, although here and there are some delightful ornamental details like the sculpted Porta dei Leoni on the north side, which depicts a series of chivalric scenes in bas relief. Its …
reviewed
