Status Active Architectural type Church | Opened 1270 Phone +39 0835 332908 Groundbreaking 1230 | |
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Address Piazza Duomo, 75100 Matera MT, Italy Similar Sassi in Miniatura, Casa Grotta di Vico Solit, Palombaro Lungo, FAI ‑ Casa Noha, Chiesa di Santa Lucia alle | ||
Matera Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Matera; Cattedrale di Santa Maria della Bruna e di Sant'Eustachio) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Matera, Basilicata, Italy. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the designation of the Madonna della Bruna and to Saint Eustace. Formerly the seat of the Bishops, later Archbishops, of Matera, it is now the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Matera-Irsina.
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History
The cathedral was built in Apulian Romanesque style in the 13th century on the ridge that forms the highest point of the city of Matera and divides the two Sassi, on the site of the ancient Church of Saint Eustace, protector of the city. Construction began in 1203, the year in which Pope Innocent III raised Matera to the rank of an archdiocese in union with Acerenza as the Archdiocese of Acerenza and Matera, and was completed in 1270.
The original dedication was to Santa Maria di Matera, as recorded in a contemporary notarial document. Then, on the evidence of a will of 1318, it was entitled Santa Maria dell'Episcopio, and from 1389, the year in which Pope Urban VI (already Archbishop of Matera), instituted the feast of the Visitation, it was dedicated to Santa Maria della Bruna, also a protector of the city. Finally, from 1627 Monsignor Fabrizio Antinori, archbishop of Matera, dedicated the cathedral to the Madonna della Bruna and to Saint Eustace.
Building
The west front is dominated by the rose window of sixteen rays and by the campanile on the left side, 52 metres high. The cathedral has a Latin cross ground plan and contains three naves. The interior houses a Byzantine-style fresco depicting the Madonna della Bruna and Child; the relics of Saint John of Matera (translated here in 1830); carved wooden choir stalls in the apse; a sculptural group of a Pesebre (1534, Nativity scene), sculpted by Altobello Persio; the Chapel of the Annunciation erected in Renaissance-style period by Giulio Persio; and a 14th-century fresco depicting the Last Judgment, which re-emerged during recent restoration work.