Basilica Cathedral San Cataldo of Taranto
This cathedral, especially its amazing interior, is one of the most extraordinary churches I have ever seen in my life.

The cathedral of Taranto is the result of a long and complex stratification of structures, which began in the last part of the tenth century. In fact, the construction of the so-called capocroce dates back to this time, consisting of the transept and the choir and characterized by the presence of the crypt on the lower floor. Around 1071 the basilical hall divided into three naves with colonnades made of material partly recovered from ancient buildings was added around 1071.

During the expansion work, the sarcophagus containing The body of San Cataldo was found. The cathedral was later enriched with the mosaic floor finished in 1160 and equipped with the bell tower (later demolished in 1950-52) and to be varle chapels among which stood out the one dedicated to San Cataldo, in a segulto transformed into the current Cappellone. A further expansion was made, presumably between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, with the construction of the vestibule in front of the old facade. Attributed to the architect Mauro Manieri and dated to 1713. It is a rather traditional prospect, in the context of Baroque classicism that distinguishes much of the Apulian architecture of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. On both sides, in special niches, are the statues of San Marco (right) and St. Peter (left). At the portal a broken eardrum, on which two angels rest, frames the base of the central window. The other registers of the higher order, compartmentalized by pilasters with ionic capital, are occupied by two niches with the statues of St. Irene (right) and San Rocco (left). In the center, on the window, is the statue of San Cataldo.