History. The diocese of B. cannot be traced with certainty to the barbarian invasions. Very uncertain is the bishop attributed to the mid-8th century. Only toward the end of the 11th century can mention be made of Bishop Arnolfo (1087). Subsequently the bishops Bisanzio (1113), Giovanni (1179) and two anonymous ones are known: the first was written to by Innocent III around 1200, the second was transferred to Mileto by Innocent IV in 1252. Then a regular list is established up to 1818, when Pius VII united B. aeque principaliter with Ruvo, making it a suffragan of Bari. In the 16th century some cardinals, such as Giambattista and Gianfrancesco Orsini, Giulio de’ Medici and twice Alessandro Farnese, served as administrators of B.
B. has retained its episcopal curia with a minor seminary; it has over 36,000 inhabitants with 15 parishes, 52 diocesan priests and 6 regulars. The abbeys of S. Leone degli Olivetani and the two female ones of S. Pietro Nuovo delle Olivetane and of the Benedictines at le Vergini are remembered.
Sacred Art. The principal monument of the city is the Cathedral (S. Valentino), begun in 1131 in the same place where a Benedictine church dedicated to the Assumption had stood and completed in the course of the 12th century. In its general layout the great church follows the model of S. Nicola in Bari.
Externally the façade is divided into three zones by two pilasters flanking the central body; this has a splendid portal with richly adorned arches and an architrave with reliefs and two griffins on small columns supported by lions. Above are a pair of biforas and then the rose window also richly decorated in relief. The flank has six arcades on piers and then a loggia or matroneum composed of six hexafoils with thirty small columns. Also very richly decorated is the head of the right transept with its double order of two biforas and a large rose window. The apse section is also very fine, with a richly carved window flanked by two bell towers frequently restored over the centuries. The interior, imposing and harmonious, is divided into three naves by 8 columns and 4 piers. The plan is in the form of a Tau cross transformed into a rectangle by the side chapels that extend to the width of the transept. The capitals of the columns supporting solemn round arches are very beautiful. Above are six large biforas and four single-light windows on each side. The main nave and the transept have roofs with trusses, while the side naves have vaulted ceilings but from the 18th century. Inside the Cathedral, several Apulian artists of the Romanesque period have left notable traces of their activity. First among them is Nicola “magister et sacerdos,” who in 1220 carved the beautiful pulpit against the right pier near the presbytery; then Bonifacio, who in 1240 carved the lectern where the relief is enhanced by inlays of colored glass; and finally Gualtiero da Foggia, who a few years later carved the ciborium, of which only some graceful small columns and a frame remain today as the balustrade of the 17th-century tomb of Cardinal Fabrizio Carafa.
Noteworthy is the crypt, as large as the transept and divided into four naves by 30 beautiful columns. In the treasury some reliquaries and precious sacred furnishings are preserved. Adjoining the Cathedral are the seminary and the episcopal palace, where fragments of Romanesque sculpture are collected. The church of S. Francesco, built in the last years of the 13th century, preserves its original façade with the pointed portal and above it a trifora with the central arch higher than the side ones. The church of S. Domenico, on the other hand, is 15th-century. Of some interest for the history of architecture are also the small church of S. Valentino, probably founded in the 12th century, and the abbey of S. Leone. This latter building boasts very ancient origins (3rd century). Until 1300 it was held by the Benedictines, then by the Olivetans and then by the Franciscans. Its oldest parts date from the 13th and 14th centuries. It has windows and a triumphal arch with pointed arches and, in the apse, an interesting series of 14th-century frescoes. The bell tower, however, is from the 13th century, while the cloister was built in the first half of the 16th century.
Among the ecclesiastical buildings of the Baroque period, it is worth recalling, in addition to the church of S. Gaetano and that of the Crocefisso, also the church of S. Francesco di Paola, rebuilt in the 18th century with its tall bell tower.
In B. one frequently encounters interesting medieval and Renaissance civil buildings. Among the latter, the palazzina Grottola is worth noting, with a ground floor in ashlar and then a loggia with two arches; the palazzo Sylos Labini with its fine 15th-century portal and the palazzo Sylos Calò.