GRAVINA, Diocese of. - City and diocese in the province of Bari; it owes its name to the steep ravines that open on the flanks of the Murge toward the Ionian Sea.

HISTORY

A "Petrus episcopus Gavensis" took part in the consecration of Pope Adrian II (867); so if, as seems right, he is attributed to G., he would be the first bishop of the city. He was succeeded by Leo, who took part as apostolic delegate in the Diet of Ponthion, convened by Charles the Bald (876), and delivered a speech there. In 968 the emperor Nicephorus Phocas, with the imposition of the Greek rite, granted to the new metropolitan of Otranto the faculty of electing the bishops of the region and assigned him five other suffragan cities, among them G. The Greek rite remained in the Byzantine stronghold until the end of the 10th century, then slowly disappeared and the diocese passed from Otranto to Matera (1052). Among the bishops are noteworthy: Robert, who took part in the Lateran Council of Alexander III (1179), and Giulio Sacchetti, a Florentine (1623), later cardinal. In 1818, Pius VII united the two sees of G. and Irsina. Today it is immediately subject to the Holy See. The diocese has an area of 660 sq km with 36,000 inhabitants, counts 10 parishes, 33 diocesan priests and 4 regulars.

MONUMENTS

The Cathedral was founded in 1092 by the Norman Umfrid, but of the medieval construction a rose window and the incomplete facade remain. The present church, dedicated to Mary Most Holy Assumed, is a work of the 15th century; noteworthy are the wooden choir (1579) and a cupboard of the sacristy (1561). Characteristic are the grottoes that dot the slopes of a rugged ravine, of which the principal ones are: the crypt of St. Michael, a church with five naves carved into the rock, with quadrilateral pillars; the crypt Tota and the crypt of the Redeemer or of St. Vitus the Old with a great Christ enthroned and four angels (ca. 14th century). Also notable are the Romanesque cloister of St. Sebastian with cruciform pillars, the church of St. Francis, a work of the Renaissance, and the church of St. Sophia.

Bibliography10 works

BIBL.: H. W. Schulz, Denkmäler der Kunst des Mittelalters in Unteritalien, I, Dresden 1860, pp. 9 and 159; IV, ibid. 1860, document CCCXIII on p. 115; J. Gay, L'Italie méridionale et l'Empire byzantin, Paris 1904, pp. 325, 352, 549 and passim; E. Bertaux, L'art dans l'Italie méridionale, I, ibid. 1904, pp. 117, 132, 150 and passim; P. Calderoni-Martini, G. e l'antica Silvium, Gravina 1920, pp. 45, 61 ff.; A. Vinaccia, I monumenti medievali di Terra di Bari, I, Bari 1915, pp. 43-46; II, ibid. 1915, pp. 123 and 147; G. Gabrieli, Inventario topografico e bibliografico delle cripte eremitiche basiliane di Puglia, Rome 1936, pp. 39-40; A. Medea, Gli affreschi delle cripte eremitiche pugliesi, ibid. 1939, pp. 59-67, pls. 14-23; D. Nardone, Documenti inediti di Carlo VIII re di Francia in G., in Iapigia, 13 (1942), pp. 225-32.

Pasquale Testini

@incollection{ec6_gravina_diocesi_di, author = {Testini, Pasquale}, title = {Gravina, diocesi di}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {1014--1016}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/gravina-diocesi-di} }

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Gravina, Diocese of

HISTORY

MONUMENTS

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