Manfredonia Cathedral

Last updated April 21, 2019

Manfredonia Cathedral (Italian : Duomo di Manfredonia, Cattedrale di San Lorenzo Maiorano) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Manfredonia in Italy, dedicated to Saint Laurence of Siponto (Italian : Lorenzo Maiorano, "Laurence Majoranus"), one of the patron saints of the city. Formerly the archiepiscopal seat of the Archdiocese of Siponto, later known as Manfredonia, it is now the seat of the Archbishop of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo.

Italian is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. Italian, together with Sardinian, is by most measures the closest language to Vulgar Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is an official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino and Vatican City. It has an official minority status in western Istria. It formerly had official status in Albania, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro (Kotor) and Greece, and is generally understood in Corsica and Savoie. It also used to be an official language in the former Italian East Africa and Italian North Africa, where it plays a significant role in various sectors. Italian is also spoken by large expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia. In spite of not existing any Italian community in their respective national territories and of not being spoken at any level, Italian is included de jure, but not de facto, between the recognized minority languages of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Romania. Many speakers of Italian are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages.

A cathedral is a church that contains the cathedra of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. The equivalent word in German for such a church is Dom ; see also Duomo in Italian, Dom(kerk) in Dutch, and cognates in many other European languages. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, and some Lutheran and Methodist churches. Church buildings embodying the functions of a cathedral first appeared in Italy, Gaul, Spain and North Africa in the 4th century, but cathedrals did not become universal within the Western Catholic Church until the 12th century, by which time they had developed architectural forms, institutional structures and legal identities distinct from parish churches, monastic churches and episcopal residences.

Manfredonia[maɱfreˈdɔːnja] is a town and comune of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Foggia, from which it is 35 kilometres northeast by rail. Manfredonia is situated on the coast, facing east, to the south of Monte Gargano, and gives its name to the gulf to the east of it. As of 2017 its population was 56,932.

History

The construction of a cathedral in Manfredonia, after the transferral here of the seat of the bishops of Siponto, began on 7 February 1270 and finished in 1274. The first building was destroyed by the Turks in 1620, and was not rebuilt until 1700, using the ruins of the old Angevin church on the authority of the then bishop, Bartolomeo della Cueva, Cardinal Vincenzo Maria Orsini (later Pope Benedict XIII), and Mgr. Andrea Cesarano. Della Cueva modified the main entrance, moving it to the opposite end of the church. He also had the canons' stalls constructed and the main altar.

Pope Benedict XIII, born Pietro Francesco Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May 1724 to his death in 1730.

A canon is a member of certain bodies subject to an ecclesiastical rule.

Formerly the main entrance was where the campanile now stands that was built by Cardinal Orsini in 1677. The bell from the old campanile given by Archbishop Marullo in 1646 and cast by the famous Napoletan bellsetter Onofrio Giordano was transferred to the new tower.

In the cathedral are frescoes of 1940-1941, by Natale Penati of Milan, representing: Pope Julius III and Pope Benedict XIII; the apparition of Saint Lawrence to Totila; Justinus and companions, the saints of Siponto; and the Martyrs of Forconio.

Fresco is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid, or wet lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting becomes an integral part of the wall. The word fresco is derived from the Italian adjective fresco meaning "fresh", and may thus be contrasted with fresco-secco or secco mural painting techniques, which are applied to dried plaster, to supplement painting in fresco. The fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with Italian Renaissance painting.

Pope Julius III, born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 February 1550 to his death in 1555.

Totila, original name Baduila, was the penultimate King of the Ostrogoths, reigning from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of the Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the territories in Italy that the Eastern Roman Empire had captured from his Kingdom in 540.

Here are preserved the portraits of the archbishops (Orsini, Muscettola, Rivera, Tagliatela and others), some parchments, the baptismal registers from 1600 onwards and various other books.

The protectress of Manfredonia is the Madonna of Siponto, and the protector, San Lorenzo Maiorano (Laurence of Siponto), whose body was moved here from Siponto by Bishop Matteo Orsini, a member of the Dominican Order and later a cardinal, on 30 October 1327. The painting and the statue of the Madonna with her splendid crown of gold sprinkled with diamonds were blessed by Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, later Pope John XXIII, on 28 August 1955, the feast of the Coronation of the Virgin.

Laurence of Siponto, also known as Laurence Maioranus, is an Italian saint, patron of the city of Manfredonia and the Archdiocese of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo. Manfredonia Cathedral is dedicated to him.

Matteo Orsini was an Italian Dominican friar and Cardinal.

Dominican Order Roman Catholic religious order

The Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominican Order, is a mendicant Catholic religious order founded by the Spanish priest Dominic of Caleruega in France, approved by Pope Honorius III via the Papal bull Religiosam vitam on 22 December 1216. Members of the order, who are referred to as Dominicans, generally carry the letters OP after their names, standing for Ordinis Praedicatorum, meaning of the Order of Preachers. Membership in the order includes friars, nuns, active sisters, and affiliated lay or secular Dominicans.

During the fire and the destruction of the cathedral by the Turks the body of Saint Laurence was also destroyed, except for the right arm, which remains in the cathedral today.

In the 1960s at the wish of the bishop Cesarano the new façade in travertine marble was constructed, which incorporates the marble statue of John XXIII created by the sculptor Aronne del Vecchio.

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Siponto was an ancient port town and bishopric in Apulia, southern Italy. The town was abandoned after earthquakes in the 13th century; today the area is administered as a frazione of the comune of Manfredonia, in the province of Foggia. Siponto is located around 3 km south of Manfredonia.

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References

Gentile, Antonio Giuseppe, 1970: Manfredonia testimonianze vecchie e nuove. Litografia Velox: Trento.

Coordinates: 41°37′46″N15°55′02″E / 41.62944°N 15.91722°E / 41.62944; 15.91722

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