Chiesa Matrice di Grottaglie

The Chiesa Matrice, formally the Collegiata di Maria Santissima Annunziata, has served as Grottaglie’s mother church since the fourteenth century. Its carved Romanesque façade, sculpted portal and majolica-clad chapel dome connect the town’s religious history with its ceramic tradition.

Why it matters

Grottaglie’s mother church was founded under the archbishops of Taranto, who also held the town as a fief. Archbishop Giacomo d’Atri is associated with the church’s foundation and with the construction of the Castello Episcopio. The church’s medieval origins and later additions reflect Grottaglie’s development under ecclesiastical rule.

What to notice

The Romanesque façade has an oculus above a portal sheltered by a protiro carried on two columns. Carved details include interlaced animal and plant motifs, Christ enthroned, the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin. Inside, a sixteenth-century high relief depicts the Annunciation. The chapel of San Ciro has a seventeenth-century dome clad in polychrome majolica, linking the church’s interior with the town’s ceramic craft. A painting of the Madonna of the Rosary is attributed to Paolo De Matteis.

Context and history

A tradition associated with the façade dates the church’s foundation to 1372 under Archbishop Giacomo d’Atri; the heritage account of his construction of the mother church gives 1327. Both dates place the church within the fourteenth century. The building’s dedication to the Annunciation is reflected in its formal title, Collegiata di Maria Santissima Annunziata. Over the following centuries, chapels and artworks accumulated inside the medieval structure, including the San Ciro chapel and its majolica dome.