Cattedrale Maria Santissima della Madia

The Cathedral of Maria Santissima della Madia is the religious centre of Monopoli's historic town. Its Baroque rebuilding surrounds an older foundation and preserves the timber raft associated with the tradition of the city's patron icon arriving by sea.

Why it matters

Municipal records date the church's foundation to 1107, over an earlier place of worship. According to local tradition, the icon of the Madonna della Madia arrived at the port on a raft on 16 December 1117, and the raft's timber was used in the church roof. The present cathedral took its Baroque form through an eighteenth-century reconstruction.

What to notice

The monumental façade and bell tower frame the cathedral square. Inside, polychrome marble decoration accompanies paintings by Giovanni Bernardo Lama, Stefano Buono, Palma il Giovane and Francesco De Mura, as well as sculpture by Giuseppe Sammartino. The crypt holds relics and continues the site's long history of worship.

Context and history

The preserved raft timber connects the building's architectural history with the city's foundation legend. Monopoli marks the icon's arrival through religious observances in December and mid-August. The eighteenth-century rebuilding transformed the medieval church while retaining the older foundation and the memory of the icon's arrival.