Cattedrale di Matera
Apulian Romanesque on the Civita, Last Judgment fresco, gilded Baroque interior, spur between the Sassi.
Photograph · Cattedrale di Matera
At a glance
Names, makers, dates, and context before the story opens up.
| Italian name | Cattedrale di Matera |
|---|---|
| What it is | Church |
| Where | Matera, Basilicata |
| Known for | Apulian Romanesque on the Civita, Last Judgment fresco, gilded Baroque interior, spur between the Sassi |
The story
The Cathedral of the Madonna della Bruna and Sant’Eustachio is Matera’s cathedral church on the Civita, related to the wider World Heritage property.
Each statement below is linked to the record or institution that supports it.
Matera Cathedral is the Cattedrale della Madonna della Bruna e di Sant'Eustachio, the cathedral church of the Archdiocese of Matera-Irsina. It is a sacred monument on the Civita, not a synonym for the whole city or the Sassi.1
The diocesan account places work on the new cathedral in 1203 and completion in 1270. The Ministry catalogue records construction from 1230 in an area with earlier religious and Norman-castle remains. This supports a staged medieval rebuild, not one uncomplicated foundation year.1,2
The Ministry catalogue identifies the cathedral's wooden choir as a 1453 work by Giovanni Tantino of Ariano. This does not make every interior furnishing an object from the same period or maker.2
The cathedral is a related monument within the World Heritage property The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera, not a separately inscribed World Heritage property.3
Plan your visit
Nearby
Worth folding into the same day.
MateraParco della Murgia MateranaGravina canyon opposite the Sassi, 150 cave churches, Murgia Timone viewpoint, Neolithic villages
MateraSassi di MateraCave city of nine millennia, Sasso Caveoso and Barisano, rock churches, shame to wonder story
MateraCrypt of the Original SinSistine Chapel of cave churches, ninth-century frescoes, Flower Painter's hand, gravina cliff setting
