Overview
It stands imposingly in the Old City of Bari, with its massive and sober appearance typical of Norman architecture. The Basilica of St Nicholas is a place of great spirituality and devotion, not only for the city's faithful, but for thousands of pilgrims from all over the world, as its crypt preserves and protects the relics of St Nicholas, patron saint of Puglia's capital city.
A magnificent example of Romanesque architecture, it derives from a temple erected on the site of the residence of the Catepan, the Greek-Byzantine governor of southern Italy between 968 and 1071, of which many materials were reused for the reconstruction that took place between 1087 and 1100. With a solemn façade, a portal decorated with sculptures and bas-reliefs of great artistic value, and many frescoes and works of art of great beauty inside, it is a real treasure that will go straight to your heart.
A must-see is the Abbot Elias' chair, one of the most important sculptural masterpieces of Apulian Romanesque, the silver altar dedicated to St Nicholas and the 16th-century mausoleum of Bona Sforza, Queen of Poland and Duchess of Bari. It is also a destination for Orthodox Christians who celebrate their liturgies here.
