This itinerary will lead you through the discovery of Gravina in Puglia, a town of 50.000 inhabitants, 350 meters above sea level, a treasure of history and art, located in the center of the Alta Murgia National Park territory.
Arrival in Gravina in Puglia, a place that Frederick II of Swabia called the "garden of delights". Gravina has been colonized by Greeks, Roman, Byzantine, Lombard, Norman, Swabian, Angevin, Aragonese and Bourbons. More than 2500 years of history to discover through the streets of the historical town center, the “Gravina” canyon and the Botromagno hill, which gives its name to the same archaeological site.
First stop the Swabian castle, with its ruins overlooking the city from a hilltop. Built by the enlightened ruler Frederick II of Swabia, it was used as a hunting lodge.
Then we head to the nearby sanctuary Madonna delle Grazie, with an unusual XVII century facade, with a large eagle surrounding the central rose window, symbol of the Bishop Giustiniani family.
We then reach the beautiful old town center, through the Corso (High Road), with XVII-XVIII century old palaces. Visit the Church of San Francesco, a fine example of Renaissance style (although the original structure belong to the XIV century), with its XVIII century bell tower and the cloister. Inside the church, rebuilt in the XVIII century with one nave and two aisles, you can admire the “Adoration of the Magi" panting, made by Sebastiano Pisano.
Another church of considerable interest is the nearby Santa Sofia, located in the so called "Greeks" district. Inside the church, there is an important white marble funeral mausoleum (XVI century) belonging to the Duchess Angela Castriota Scandemberg, wife of Duke Ferdinando Orsini. The church has a single nave, the ceiling has a decorated wooden coffered ceiling. In the first half of the XVI century a monastery of the order of Santa Chiara was annexed to the church.
The tour moves to the Church of Santa Maria del Suffragio (called “Purgatorio”). It was built in 1649 at behest the Duke of Gravina Ferdinand III Orsini and his wife Giovanna Frangipane. On the end wall, set in a majestic baroque frame, it stands the painting “Lady of Suffrage” made by Francesco Guarino dated between 1649 and 1651.
Just opposite the church, it stands the Finya Library, founded in 1686 with the legacies of the bishop Cennini; it is certainly the oldest library in Apulia and takes its name from its biggest donors, the Cardinal Finy. The library boasts a collection of more than 8000 volumes, including three hundred 16th century editions and several incunabula. At the end of the XIX century, on the main façade, it was added a very particular mechanical watch: it represents the faces of King Vittorio Emanuele II and Giuseppe Garibaldi.
The Civic Museum and the Cathedral Museum of Sacred Art is nearby, housed in the old seminary. In the Art Gallery section, there are several important paintings of the Neapolitan school. In the Vestments section there are different scrolls of the Capitolar Archive, gold and silver reliquaries and sacred objects from different periods. Of great value are the vestments worn by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726.
From here we visit the Cathedral dedicated to the Assumption, built under the Normans and rebuilt in the early XVI century, after fires and earthquakes. The main facade and the south entrance have two monumental entrances. Inside, the cathedral has one nave and two aisles. The central ceiling is made of carved wood and gilded according to Baroque style. The presbytery houses a chorus made in solid walnut wood. On the side aisles there are several very interesting altars. The sacristy was built on the foundations of the Norman castle and still keeps a finely decorated counter made of solid walnut wood in 1561. In the area below the cathedral, there is the Church of Santa Croce known as the “Cathedral soccorpo”. It has three naves and houses several graves dating from the XVI to the XIX century and some frescoes dating to the XVI century.
The cathedral, standing on an edge of the ravine, divides the modern town from the old one, with the two oldest district of the city (inhabited by the V-VI century AD): the Piaggio, which unfortunately has been almost completely destroyed and abandoned, and Fondovico, where you can admire the most beautiful rupestrian churches in Gravina, San Michele delle Grotte. Dating to the X century, this church has beautiful traces of a Christ Pantocrator and Saints frescoes.
Opposite the cathedral it stands the church of Santa Maria delle Domenicane. Both the monastery and church are closely linked to the name of D. Giovanna Frangipane, the mother of Pope Benedict XIII (a statue is located in the main square), which in 1677 became a nun.
Also nearby is the entrance to "Gravina Underground", a fascinating journey into the bowels of this city.
The Palazzo Ducale Orsini is the birthplace of Pier Francesco Orsini, the twelfth Duke of Gravina, who became pope with the name of Pope Benedict XIII in 1724. The building shows some baroque elements. Inside it is still visible the room used by Pope Benedict XIII decorated with some frescoes.
Leaving the old town through the arch of St. Augustine we can see the homonymous church built by St. Augustine Hermits Fathers, which have been active in Gravina since 1553. In front of the church there is the “Villa Comunale”, the town’s public garden, with the War Memorial and the beautiful Gothic Clock Tower.
Outside the city walls, there is the Church of San Sebastiano, with adjoining monastery, built in 1474 under the patronage of the Fathers Minor sponsored by Duke Ferdinando II Orsini. The convent has no particularly decorations, but the cloister, which became the focus of the entire complex, made the convent as one of the most beautiful in Apulia. The cloister has a square plan and large porches; in the lunettes there are depicted episodes of the lives of the saints.
Going back in the town center, the Foundation Museum Santomasi deserves a visit. The building that hosts the museum was built in the XVII and belonged to the Santomasi family. It was reserved to house the museum and the library by the Baron Ettore Pomarici Santomasi, who donated to the town. The museum comprises three areas: on the ground floor it has been recreated the rupestrian crypt of St Vito Vecchio, with late medieval frescoes and a majestic Christ Pantocrator fresco; it also shows some frescoes taken from the Grotta del Padre Eterno. On the first floor there is the library with 36,000 volumes, including incunabula and 16th century editions. You can also visit the apartment of the Pomarici Santomasi family with valuable antique furniture. On the second floor there is the archaeological museum showing archaeological finds and local pre-Roman coins. Of great value is the Art Gallery, which houses paintings by Guarino, by Persico and the "San Sebastian" painting by Ludovico Carracci.
From the Museum, through via Calderoni, we reach Via Giudice Montea, a spectacular panoramic road that leads, through the Aqueduct Bridge, to the sanctuary of Madonna della Stella (1700). At the beginning of the bridge there is a water pool and some ancient remains of what were probably the ancient city walls; on the bridge, that connects the two banks of the stream Gravina, you can admire a breathtaking landscape of the rocky habitat. On the other side of the bridge, there are the cave church of the Madonna della Stella, the “complex of the seven rooms” and the Archaeological Park of Gravina. The archaeological excavations have unearthed artifacts dating to the Iron Age. In fact, it has been found the remaining of a town called Sidion first and Silvium later. In 305 BC this old settlement was destroyed by the Roman army. In 1967, some archaeological excavations have unearthed a Greek-Roman colony, a settlement born as a resting place for the Roman Army setting out for Greece, along the ancient Appian Way. It can be said that the ancient settlement, called “Botromagno”, is certainly one of the largest in Southern Italy for its extension (over 430 hectares) and, perhaps, the richest for the quality and quantity of artifacts found in the tombs.
Around Gravina:
A few kilometers from the town, you can make several interesting excursions:
The forest "Difesa Grande": it is a Site of Community Importance (SIC), 5 km from Gravina. It covers an area of 1,838 hectares. It is the most important woodland of the province of Bari and it is a natural forest; it has a varied vegetation including cypress, oak, Hop-hornbeam, maple, elm etc.
The Alta Murgia National Park: an extensive area declared national park in 1994. It has peculiar flora and fauna, and unique anthropological traces such as farmhouses, neviere (snow storage rooms), jazzi (sheep shelters) and dry stone walls.
Altamura, few km from Gravina, with its charming medieval cloisters and the Cathedral. Traces of the past can be seen in the megalithic walls, in the Dinosaur Park (one of the largest in Europe for its footprints), and in the cave of the Prehistoric Altamura Man (a well preserved hominid skeleton, who lived 150,000 years ago). The smell of the freshly baked Altamura bread, the only Dop baked product in Europe, will accompany you along the street of Altamura.
Matera: a Unesco World heritage with its wonderful Sassi, unique prehistoric cave dwellings that has been the location of famous film-makers (including Mel Gibson "The Passion"). Its town center is one of the most beautiful in Italy. Many are the beauty of this city: the rupestrian churches in the ravine, the Casa-Grotta , the church of St. Peter and the Madonna of Idris; and then the Palazzo Lanfranchi (National Museum of Medieval and Modern Art), the Ridola National Archaeological Museum and the Musma (contemporary art museum), the Church of Saint Francis, of Saint 'Augustine and of Annunciation, the Cathedral and the Palace with the spectacular Piazza Vittorio Veneto.
Gravina in Puglia - Parco Nazionale dell'Alta Murgia - Altamura - Matera
All year around
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