MONOPOLI, DIOCESIS of. — City and diocese in the province of Bari, immediately subject to the Holy See.
It has an area of 1,000.500, with an entirely Catholic population of 84,000 inhabitants; it has 17 parishes, 84 diocesan priests, and 29 religious priests (Ann. Pontificio, 1951, p. 274).
It is held that the diocese of Monopoli, which arose in the 11th century as a suffragan of Brindisi and later of Bari, originated after the destruction of the celebrated Roman Egnatia, whose episcopate is known of from the dawn of the 5th century. The hypothesis, although logical, still requires historical proof. The first bishop of M. was Adeodato (1059), followed by Smaragdo (1067), Pietro, who took part in the consecration of the church of Monte Cassino and subscribed the bull of Alessandro II (1071), and Romualdo (1073), who laid the foundations of the new cathedral. In 1091 Urban II made the Church independent and declared it immediately subject to the Holy See. Several times in the history of the diocese, the disagreement between the Chapter and the Pontiff over the election of the new bishop became acute. In 1227, for example, Honorius III consecrated Giovanni, annulling the Chapter’s election of an abbot of S. Maria Amalfitana; and, after the death of Giulio (between 1271 and 1275), the same Chapter divided into two factions, one supporting a certain Ugone and the other Guarino, archbishop of Brindisi. Martin IV then cut the matter short and ordered an end to the see’s already lengthy vacancy. Thus Pasquale could finally be elected, and was also confirmed by the Pope. Further disputes arose over the appointment of N. Boccasigni (1309) and F. Dionisio (1336), while fra Giovanni de' Minori, elected in 1375, joined the party of the antipope Clement VII, being the confessor of Queen Giovanna I. In 1818 Pius VII, after suppressing the episcopal see of Polignano, assigned it in perpetuity to M., under Bishop L. Villani of Ugento.
MONUMENTS. — Thanks to its natural harbor, M. has maintained since antiquity, and especially during the Middle Ages, very close commercial relations with the most important maritime cities. Testimony to these relations is still found in the names of the most noteworthy monuments. The church of S. Maria Amalfitana, perhaps erected by a colony of Amalfitans over a Basilian grotto at the end of the 11th or beginning of the 12th century, still preserves its interior with three naves, divided by composite pillars with beautiful Romanesque capitals, and the terminal apses. The central one is particularly beautiful, with its half-columns bearing grotesque corbels and its large window embellished with elements of Lombard art. The façade is in a modest Baroque style; the Basilian laura on which the church arose has likewise been rebuilt.
The Cathedral, dedicated to S. Mercurio and built in 1107, now has the Baroque forms resulting from its last rebuilding (1742–70), but still preserves some good paintings: a S. Michele, perhaps by Palma il Giovane, to whom Madonna in gloria and SS. Rocco e Sebastiano are also attributed (by others, to Palma il Vecchio); a Circoncisione by Marco da Siena; a S. Girolamo, disputed between Gentile Bellini and L. Bastiani; and other works by F. De Mura, G. Bonito, and P. Finoglio. Fragments of the ancient church are kept in the sacristy, among which two archivolts and an architrave are of notable value: the first adorned with twelve busts of angels, the second with floral motifs, and the third with rough sculptures strongly imbued with northern forms, representing various scenes in bas-relief (Deposizione; Marie al sepolcro; Discesa al Limbo, etc.). The archive is rich in 307 parchments, dating from the year 1180 onward.