BUILDINGS

The main monument of Trani is the Cathedral, dedicated to St. Nicholas the Pilgrim, a Greek who died in Trani in 1094 while on his way on pilgrimage to Rome, and some years later canonized by Urban II.

It lies on a raised open site near the sea, and was consecrated, before its completion, in 1143. It is a basilica with three apses, built in the characteristic white local limestone. It has also a large crypt and a lofty tower, the latter erected in 1230-1239 by the architect whose name appears on the ambo in the cathedral of Bitonto, Nicolaus Sacerdos.

It has an arch under it, being supported partly on the side wall of the church, and partly on a massive pillar. The arches of the Romanesque portal are beautifully ornamented, in a manner suggestive of Arab influence; the bronze doors, executed by Barisanus of Trani in 1175, rank among the best of their period in Southern Italy. The capitals of the pillars in the crypt are fine examples of the Romanesque.

The interior of the cathedral has been widely modernized, but the crypt remains similar to the origins and was renowned repository of relics, among which indicates the body of the martyr St. Febronia of Nisibis that you can still Today enjoy a precious reliquary of the eighteenth century and a oval painting depicting the Saint at the Diocesan Museum.