Romanesque Churches of Puglia

Destination: Puglia, Italy

Travel guidebook summary

The Romanesque churches of Puglia (Apulia) are a highlight of any visit to South Italy. These churches were constructed during a Crusade-inspired boom period under the auspices of the Normans who unified control of the area from 1031 to 1194.

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Message from the author

“For me, this tour is one of the most enjoyable ways to see Puglia. It takes you into a number of the region’s most beautiful towns to see excellently-preserved, visually-stunning Romanesque churches. We chose to focus on each church’s most distinctive features, drawing connections with others profiled on the tour.”

Jennifer Raezer | Founder & Author, Approach Guides

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Guidebook Description

What’s in this guidebook

Architecture review. Puglia’s Romanesque architectural style uniquely blends elements of the Eastern and Western architectural traditions. To get at its unique qualities, this guidebook begins by providing a thorough review of the classic Italian Romanesque architectural style that prevailed through much of the mainland. It then lays out the unique characteristics that the style assumes in the churches of Puglia, as it was infused with the region’s historical Byzantine (Eastern Orthodox) and Saracen (Islamic) building architectural traditions. To make things come alive, we have packed our review with high-resolution images.
Tour of the highlights. Following our tradition of being the most valuable resource for culture-focused travelers, we tour the most iconic Romanesque city churches in Puglia: Bari, Bitonto, Manfredonia, Molfetta, Ruvo di Puglia, Trani and Troia. For each, we reveal its most important architectural and decorative features and provide a discussion that ties it all together.
Castel del Monte. And, as an extra, this guidebook includes a comprehensive profile of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II’s masterful Castel del Monte, which is easily reached and makes for an exciting addition to this church tour.
Advice for getting the best cultural experience. To help you plan your visit, this guidebook supplies logistical advice, maps and links to online resources. Plus, we give our personal tips for getting the most from your experience while on location.
Information the way you like it. As with all of our guides, this book is optimized for intuitive, quick navigation; information is organized into bullet points to make absorption easy; and images are marked up with text that explains important features.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Italian Romanesque

The Puglian Romanesque: New Twists

Romanesque Church Tour

Touring Map

Bari : Basilica di San Nicola
Bitonto : Duomo
Manfredonia : S. Maria Maggiore di Siponto
Molfetta : Duomo Vecchio
Ruvo di Puglia : Duomo
Trani : Chiesa di Ognissanti
Trani : Duomo
Troia : Duomo
Extra: Castel del Monte

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