Molfetta

This day is for two beautiful seaside towns northwest of Bari, Molfetta and Giovinazzo. We picked Molfetta to start our day. Molfetta is a charming coastal town located in the Puglia region. It is situated along the Adriatic Sea, offers stunning views and a rich cultural heritage. With its ancient origins Molfetta provides a perfect blend of history, art, and seaside attractions. 

The train ride from Bari to Molfetta took less than 20 minutes. Surrounding the train station are relatively newer residences. A statue of the national hero Giuseppe Garibaldi stands at Piazza Effrem to greet visitors. He holds a short sword in one hand. Umm, such a welcome?  The welcome sign below is more friendly and happy.

In about 10 minutes, we got to the old town filled with historical palaces in whitewash colour. It is quiet, without shops and noises. Ashlar walls are often dotted with pots of flowers which add nostalgia to this charming area.  

We walked and looked around to admire the beautiful buildings. A woman passed by and offered us to see the courtyard of her residential buildings. We heard her steps walking to the upper floors and finally vanished. The courtyard is filled with stony historical architectural elements dated to centuries ago. We opened and closed the heavy entrance door to continue the exploration in the old town.

At the intersection between the Via Piazza and Via Mammoni, a strange angular sculpture, God of Mammon money (of Aramaic origin) awaits to scare children.  It is an imaginary figure associated with the boogeyman or with an evil ogre and its job is to take away children who do not behave well. Another stream is Mammon represents the vice of greed (“You cannot serve both God and Mammon” as it says in the Bible).

Information over the web said that at number 13 of Via Sant'Orsola, Galante Gadaleta Palace, one can enter the Passari Tower, a seventeenth-century cylindrical fortification, to have magnificent views over the sea, the peninsular and surroundings. Unfortunately, it was closed.  

As we pondered in front of the entrance, an Italian man passed by and attempted to offer assistance. Once he knew our intention, he offered us to visit the rooftop of his B&B for the superb views, even including the top and overview of the Passari Tower.  Molfetta residents are very absolutely kind, super friendly and generous. We followed him to the roof. My goodness! So nice and peaceful! The sea is wide open, an endless view to embrace the heaven and sea. 

 

Molfetta has two cathedrals - the old Romanesque Duomo (Duomo Vecchio di San Corrado) dating from the 11th century, and the newer Baroque Santa Maria Assunta, which took on the cathedral title in 1775.

The "Duomo di San Corrado" was erected between the second half of the 12th and the first half of the 13th century on a cliff overlooking the sea. In the beginning, the distance between the cathedral and the sea was so small, that the main entrance had to be moved to the other side, but meanwhile, the cliff is gone. The harbour got enlarged, the land around was reclaimed and now there is a wide promenade.

Duomo di San Corrado is a very special example of Apulian Romanesque architecture, and the largest of the Romanesque churches with the central nave covered with three domes and two high towers. The Duomo is now the icon of Molfetta and dominates the promenade.

This church is dedicated to the patron saint of Molfetta, Saint Conrad of Bavaria. The structure features three aligned domes and two towers, of which one is a bell tower and the other was used as a watchtower. The apse, according to a typical Apulian system, is enclosed by a continuous wall interrupted by a window decorated with Kufic characters and lions. Blind arches intertwine in a motif of Arab taste. The side chapels date back to the fifteenth-sixteenth centuries. The church interior is divided into three naves. The central nave is covered by three domes of different heights: the oldest and most decorated is on the transept. 

 

The new Cathedral is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and Saint Ignatius Loyola. Among the works of art in the cathedral are the Dormitio Mariae ('Dormition of Mary') attributed to Scacco (16th century), the monument of the Molfettese naturalist and historian Giuseppe Maria Giovene, to the left of the altar dedicated to Saint Conrad, and on it, the magnificent canvas by Corrado Giaquinto of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. In 1887 the ceiling vault was decorated in tempera by the Molfettese painter Michele Romano.

This church became the new Cathedral in 1785 when the bones of Saint Conrad of Bavaria were moved in it from the Duomo. It was originally built in the seventeenth century as Chiesa di Sant’Ignazio di Loyola, annexed to the Jesuit College that would be active until 1767 when the order was suppressed. The facade, made of local stone, is decorated with alternating solids and voids and on its top in a bottomless niche, stands a sculpture in the round of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The church interior is a feast of coloured marbles and stuccos, capitals, mouldings, decorative cartouches, floral festoons and crowns, cherubim, and statues sculpted by Tabacco brothers and Michele Cattedra. The six chapels on the sides of the nave are enriched with precious artwork from renowned artists. Among those, two paintings in the big chapels by the presbytery stand out: the Assunta by Molfettese artist Corrado Giaquinto (1747) and the Addolorata by Neapolitan artist Fedele Fischetti (1778). The barrel vault was decorated with tempera by Michele Romano.

We spent the rest of the morning and mid-day time along the promenade. The sea was rough. Waves splashed over rocks at the coast. Powerful and a bit frightening! The views over Molfetta and nearby towns as backdrops are stunning.  The theatrical waving scenes are a big contrast to the quiet historical town. Both are charming.