Andria Cathedral

Andria Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Andria, Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Andria in Apulia, Italy, which up to 2009 was in the Province of Bari but from then onwards part of the newly formed Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. It is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and is the seat of the Bishop of Andria.

Andria Cathedral west front

Overview

The present cathedral was built by the Norman Geoffrey of Hauteville, lord of Andria, on top of an earlier small church of the 7th-8th century, which forms the present crypt. It received further extensive refurbishment and reconstruction in the mid-14th century in the Late Gothic style, and again later in the Baroque style. The cathedral was severely damaged by a fire in 1916[1] and was again restored in 1965. The frequent rebuildings have given what is basically a Norman church a predominantly Late Gothic appearance.

The crypt, dedicated to the Holy Saviour (San Salvatore) - unlike the main cathedral, which is dedicated to the Assumption - contains the tombs of two of the wives of Emperor Frederick II, Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem (Yolande) and Isabella of England.[2]

The cathedral owns a gold reliquary of special importance, and two major 19th-century paintings by Michele de Napoli.

Notes
  1. "FIRE DESTROYS CATHEDRAL.; Bishop Is Rescued from Flames in Andria, Ancient Town". April 19, 1916 – via NYTimes.com.
  2. A brief account of the exhumation and examination of the coffins of the two empresses by Professor Fornaciari in 1993, when the unexpected remains of several additional bodies were discovered, is here Archived April 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine ((in Italian)
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41°13′33″N 16°17′44″E


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