Santa Maria di Siponto

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The facade with today's so-called lion portal

Santa Maria di Siponto , in literature also Santa Maria Maggiore di Siponto or Basilica di Santa Maggiore di Siponto , is a former cathedral in the area of ​​ancient Sipontum in Apulia , a city ​​that was abandoned in the Middle Ages and re-founded as Manfredonia . The church is the only remaining building in today's desert . It stands next to or on top of ancient and early Christian buildings. It is interesting because of its building history. Its exterior design became a model for a number of other churches. Their actual type of construction has not caught on in Apulia. It has been a minor basilica since 1977 .

location

The church is located on a feeder to Strada Statale 89 , about 500 meters west of the modern seaside resort of Siponto and about 3 kilometers southwest of the city center of Manfredonia.

History and building history

Today's church building stands next to the remains of an early Christian basilica from the 6th century, the nave of which - the remains of the foundations can be seen next to the church - was probably built over an ancient Diana shrine . It possibly stands on the site of the baptistery or the atrium of the former basilica. Its position as a baptistery could also explain why it was built as a central dome. It is certain that the old basilica was destroyed in an earthquake in 991. The reconstruction of the building is from 1025 can be seen in successive phases, ensuring the re-transfer of under the Lombards temporarily to Benevento laid bishopric is related 1,023th Siponto also received the rank of Benevento as an archdiocese , which led to political problems. An archbishop Leone is named from 1023 to 1050. Pope Leo IX probably already stopped in the finished church . held a synod in 1050. Under Pope Alexander II. A place here, only seventeen years later, in 1067 council instead. This building did not last long either; it was destroyed again in an earthquake towards the end of the 11th century. However, it was rebuilt quite quickly and largely in the old forms. The first documented information about the building is that of its (re) consecration in 1117. It was a central dome with a Byzantine dome built over a square . In 1223, a heavy earthquake finally destroyed Siponto, and the building in its old form could not be restored. When this became clear, the central axis of the church was rotated 90 degrees. The old portal - today's north portal - lost its function as the main portal. Today's so-called lion portal took its place. It was also necessary to build a second apse , offset by 90 degrees . Today the church has two portals and two apses.

Around this time - the older literature names the end of the 12th century, the newer the 13th century - the fundamental transformation that is still visible today took place inside. From the originally one central room, two storeys, today's upper church and the lower church, also known as the crypt, were created by inserting an intermediate ceiling on pillars. At the same time, the external redesign of the outer walls of the upper floor, which is still visible today, and which became a model for the design of other church buildings. The central building type, however, has not caught on in Apulia. Santa Maria di Siponto remained unique for this region in the High Middle Ages.

The church was in 16./17. Century restored and 1977 by Pope Paul VI. raised to the minor basilica .

Exterior

The exterior of the cube-like superstructure is structured by a series of blind arcades with columns in front of them. The arcade arches themselves are stepped twice and finely chiseled out on the outside of the two arches. The capitals of the columns follow the Corinthian order, albeit simplified and in some cases slightly modified. The pillars on which today's main portal, the lion portal, sits on the figures of lions, are antique. In contrast to the other arches, the lion portal is even lower; this time the archivolts are finely crafted towards the inside. The design of the blind arch surfaces with diamond-shaped windows is also striking , both in the lower zone, slightly above the base zone , and partly between the capitals on the surfaces inclined towards the portal. This special design was the model for the design of other churches, such as the cathedrals of Troia , Foggia and Termoli or the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Monte Sant'Angelo . Beyond Apulia, there are also San Benedetto in Brindisi and parts of the Cathedral of Taranto . It is not clear whether the design is a model for similar designs in Pisa Cathedral .

Interior

Upper Church

Today's upper church is dominated by the spatial impression of the four pillars that support the dome structure. They received their design as square pillars only during the renovations in the 12th and 13th. Century. Before they were solidly walled, as can still be seen in the lower church. In the inner corners of the pillars towards the center of the room, pillars are set above the base at the beginning of the arches. The arcade arches of the inner walls of the upper floor are supported in the area of ​​the apses by columns with different capital shapes, in the area of ​​the other walls by pilasters .

Lower church / crypt

The lower church was designed with twelve pillars supporting it when the false ceiling was drawn in. Due to the square arrangement of the pillars - two between the mighty round pillars supporting the pillars of the upper church and four in between - there is a number of five yokes in a square. The twelve columns have capitals of different types, four are differentiated in terms of art history. It is mostly a matter of greatly simplified modifications of the Corinthian order, but the small "pillar forest" is considered to be "atmospheric".

Furnishing

The altar of the church was originally a Byzantine sarcophagus .

The altarpiece, the Madonna of Siponto , on the other hand, is a copy. The original, an icon , possibly from the 6th century, is in Manfredonia Cathedral. The same applies to a sculpture Madonna with Baby Jesus , a work made of wood from the 12th or 13th century. It can also be seen in the Manfredonia Cathedral.

A very important master in Apulia, Acceptus , created the original ambo in the second half of the 12th century . Only the middle part is preserved. It is located in the Castello Svevo in Bari .

literature

  • Maria Stella Calò Mariani: L'Arte del duecento in Puglia ; Istituto Banco San Paolo di Torino; Torino 1984.
  • Pina Belli D'Elia u. a .: Alle sorgenti del Romanico Puglia XI secolo - Catalog: Bari, Pinacoteca Provinciale, Giugno - December 1975 ; Edizioni Dedalo; Bari 1975
  • Ekkehart Rotter: Apulia . Trips to Byzantine grotto churches, Norman cathedrals, Hohenstaufen forts and baroque buildings in Lecce. (=  DuMont art travel guide ). 6th edition. Dumont Reise Verlag, Ostfildern 2012, ISBN 3-7701-4314-0 .
  • Rolf Legler: Apulia: 7000 years of history and art in the land of cathedrals, forts and trulli ; DuMont Verlag; Cologne 1987 ISBN 3-7701-1986-X .
  • Carl Arnold Willemsen : Apulia - cathedrals and forts ; 2nd ed.; DuMont Schauberg; Cologne 1973 ISBN 3-7701-0581-8 .

Web links

Commons : Santa Maria di Siponto  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Legler: Apulia: 7000 years of history and art in the land of cathedrals, forts and trulli , p. 90
  2. ↑ Rotter: Apulia: Byzantine grotto churches, Norman cathedrals, Staufer forts and Lecceser Baroque , p. 117
  3. ↑ Legler: Apulia: 7000 years of history and art in the land of cathedrals, forts and trulli , p. 275.
  4. ^ Mariani: L'Arte del duecento in Puglia , p. 34.
  5. ↑ Legler: Apulia: 7000 years of history and art in the land of cathedrals, forts and trulli , p. 89.
  6. ↑ Belli D'Elia et al. a .: Alle sorgenti del Romanico Puglia XI secolo - Catalogo: Bari, Pinacoteca Provinciale, Giugno - Dicembre 1975 , p. 47.
  7. ↑ Legler: Apulia: 7000 years of history and art in the land of cathedrals, forts and trulli , p. 89.
  8. ↑ Legler: Apulia: 7000 years of history and art in the land of cathedrals, forts and trulli , p. 89.
  9. ↑ Rotter: Apulia: Byzantine grotto churches, Norman cathedrals, Staufer forts and Lecceser Baroque , p. 117.
  10. ^ Willemsen: Apulia - cathedrals and forts , p. 54.
  11. ↑ Rotter: Apulia: Byzantine grotto churches, Norman cathedrals, Staufer forts and Lecceser Baroque , p. 117.
  12. ↑ Legler: Apulia: 7000 years of history and art in the land of cathedrals, forts and trulli , p. 90.
  13. ↑ Legler: Apulia: 7000 years of history and art in the land of cathedrals, castles and trulli , p. 91.
  14. ↑ In detail: Belli D'Elia u. a .: Alle sorgenti del Romanico Puglia XI secolo - Catalogo: Bari, Pinacoteca Provinciale, Giugno - Dicembre 1975 , p. 56.
  15. ↑ Rotter: Apulia: Byzantine grotto churches, Norman cathedrals, Staufer forts and Lecceser Baroque , p. 117.
  16. ^ Willemsen: Apulia - cathedrals and forts , p. 55

Coordinates: 41 ° 36 ′ 29.7 "  N , 15 ° 53 ′ 21.7"  E