The role of the Normans

Behind the Pope who blessed it were the Norman conquerors who financed it in the context of their policy of eastern expansion.

Brindisi once again took on its role that the Roman Empire had assigned to it as a stop-off from paths in the Levant, and obligatory stage for anyone wanting to reach Jerusalem.
It was her that Roger was crowned King of Sicily in 1191, the first of the Norman kings to be this outside of Palermo.

The earthquake and its destruction

The Basilica, named after the Visitation and Saint John the Baptist was heavily damaged by the earthquake of 1743.

Of the original construction, only the base remains, very similar to that of the Basilica of Saint Nicola of Bari, as well as the façade that holds the imprint of the original one.

Traces of the original Roman concept remain in the external apse built between 1089 and 1132, and in the Roman columns of the temple of Apollo and Diana, predated by a pointed archway on which the Baroque bell tower, built in the eighteenth century, was erected.

The gable roof was made last century in the 20s and have recently been adorned with statues of Saint Leucio, Saint Theodore of Amasea, Saint Lorenzo da Brindisi and Saint Giustino de Jacobis. Next to the Cathedral is a mighty bell tower completed in 1795, which stands out against the surrounding piazza as rare beauty.

The inside

With its three naves in a Latin cross, the inside of the Cathedrals offers a breath-taking spectacle: gilded altars and many-coloured marble in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, majolica floors and exquisite mosaic findings of the ancient floor carried out in 1178 with typical zoomorphic decorations.

A splendid wooden choir in walnut from the 16 th century, and on the greater altar, a precious, cantilevered, frontal silver, surrounded by two paintings depicting Oronzo Tiso’s Martyrdom of St Pelinus and the Preaching of Saint Leucio.

The Crusades

It is in this Cathedral, next to the docks in the port, that those going to fight in the Crusades would come to pray before setting sail for the Holy Land.

The signs of its centuries-old presence in the path of pilgrims, which led from Rome to Jerusalem, are in the relics that enrich its treasure: the arm of Saint George, the “hydria” of Cana’s wedding feast, and the relics of Theodore of Amasea, make this this place a must-see.

Theodore was venerated in the eastern Mediterranean, as he was the protector of the Byzantine army for centuries; from the 4 th century right up until his relics were moved to Brindisi in the 13 th century, the central circle of his followers was in Turkey.

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More information about the Brindisi cathedral here.