Venosa Cathedral

Rapolla Cathedral was first mentioned in 1037 and we know that this first cathedral was destroyed in 1183 when the inhabitants of Melfi attacked Rapolla. The church was immediately rebuilt and completed by Melchiorre da Montalbano in 1253. The Cathedral has also been destroyed or damaged many times by earthquakes (1456, 1694, 1851, 1930 and 1980).

Santa Maria Assunta Cathedral was built in 1076. Unfortunately, nothing remains of this original cathedral because it was destroyed by several earthquakes. The current Baroque cathedral, with the exception of the bell tower, one of the most important monuments of Norman architecture in southern Italy, was consecrated in 1770.

The present cathedral was built between the 11th and 13th centuries on the remains of a former early Christian church. In 1281, the church was partially rebuilt in Roman-Gothic forms, but in 1456, this Romanesque cathedral was severely damaged by an earthquake; moreover, due to a long series of non-resident archbishops, the building was abandoned. It was not until 1524 that the complete restoration of the church began. After the earthquake of 1921, the dome of the bell tower was replaced by a terrace, while the dome of the cathedral was rebuilt in 1934, as the earthquake of 1930 had seriously damaged the original cylindrical dome.