GRAVINA, DIOCESE OF. – A city and diocese in the province of Bari; it takes its name from the steep ravines that open onto the slopes of the Murge toward the Ionian Sea.
GRAVINA, GIAN VINCENZO – Portrait – Rome, Biblioteca Angelica.
HISTORY. – A “Petrus episcopus Gavensis” took part in the consecration of Pope Adrian II (867); hence, as seems reasonable, he is attributed to G., and would be the first bishop of the city. He was succeeded by Leo, who attended as apostolic delegate to the Diet of Pontifex, convoked by Charles the Bald (876), and delivered a speech there. In 968 the Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, by imposing the Greek rite, granted the new metropolitan of Otranto the faculty to elect the bishops of the region and assigned him five other suffragan cities, among which was G. The Greek rite remained in the Byzantine stronghold until the end of the 10th century, then gradually disappeared, and the diocese passed from Otranto to Matera (1052). Among the bishops are noted: Robert, who attended the Lateran Council of Alexander III (1179), and Giulio Sacchetti, a Florentine (1062), later a 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, comprises 10 parishes, 33 diocesan priests, and 4 regular clergy.
MONUMENTS. – The Cathedral was founded in 1092 by the Norman Humphrey, but of the medieval structure only a rose window and the incomplete façade remain. The present church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, dates from the 15th century; noteworthy are the wooden choir (1579) and a sacristy cupboard (1561). Characteristic are the grottoes that dot the slopes of a rugged ravine, the principal ones being: the crypt of St Michael, a five-aisled church hewn from the rock, with quadrilateral pillars; the Tota crypt and the crypt of the Redeemer or of St Vitus the Elder, with a large enthroned Christ and four angels (c. 14th century). Also notable are the Romanesque cloister of St Sebastian with cross-shaped pillars, the church of St Francis, a Renaissance work, and the church of St Sophia.