Museo Diocesano Matronei (MUDIMA)

The Diocesan Museum Matronei (MUDIMA) occupies the upper galleries of Altamura’s cathedral and a second level in the adjoining bishop’s palace. Its collections include sacred silver, vestments, stone and wooden sculpture, and archival documents from the thirteenth to nineteenth centuries.

Why it matters

Opened in 2016 by the Diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti, the museum presents diocesan collections within the cathedral and the Palazzo Vescovile. The layout connects religious objects with the church and institutions for which they were made and used.

What to notice

The five collection sections cover silver, sacred vestments, stone sculpture, wooden sculpture and the archive. The silver includes a statue of the Assunta dated 1698 and a processional cross. A notable textile is the early nineteenth-century embroidered Mantello di Murat. The museum also holds sculptures, reliquaries and sacred-music documents.

Context and history

The museum was inaugurated in 2016 after the diocese prepared exhibition spaces in the cathedral’s matronei and the Sala degli Stemmi in the bishop’s palace. Its archive includes documents from the thirteenth to nineteenth centuries. MUDIMA’s arrangement makes the cathedral galleries and palace part of a single presentation of the diocese’s material and documentary heritage.