ORIA, DIOCESE of. - City and diocese in the province of Brindisi, with 7 municipalities in that province and 4 in that of Taranto.
It has an area of 92,620 sq. km., with a population of 750,000 inhabitants, of whom 148,600 are Catholics, distributed among 23 parishes, served by 84 diocesan priests and 94 religious; it has a seminary, 15 male religious communities, and 28 female ones (Ann. Pont. 1952, p. 302).
The diocese was founded on 8 May 1591 by Pope Gregorio XIV through the bull Regimini Universae, as a suffragan of Taranto; its first bishop was Msgr. V. TURIO. The present Cathedral is dedicated to the B. V. ASSUNZIONE. The patron of the diocese is St. Bassanoio, abbot. Dominating the Tavoliere delle Puglie rises the castle attributed to Federico II (1227–33). It was built on the site of the ancient ninth-century church dedicated to Ss. Crisanto and Daria, of which only the crypt remains, with remnants of paintings.