Basilica Cathedral of San Cataldo

The current building preserves a complex historical stratification: the Byzantine phase is connected to the reconstruction of Taranto promoted by Nikephoros II Phokas after the Saracen devastations of 927, while the basilica layout was re-elaborated in the Norman age. The internal columns, different in material and proportions, are mostly re-used elements from Greek and Roman buildings, a sign of continuity between the ancient and medieval city. The cathedral measures approximately 84 meters in length and 24 meters in width, with three naves divided by eight columns on each side and capitals of different styles. Among the most significant elements are the remains of the medieval mosaic floor, attributed to the mosaicist Petroius and commissioned by Archbishop Giraldo in the 12th century, depicting the Flight of Alexander the Great and animal figures related to the Romanesque figurative culture of Apulia. Also noteworthy is the wooden coffered ceiling of the central nave, known as the "golden sky," reconstructed after the fire of 1635 and gilded in 1713. The main altar is surmounted by a seventeenth-century porphyry ciborium, supported by spolia columns, while in the apse, the wooden choir with modern-age paintings is preserved. The crypt, an integral part of the late 10th-century Byzantine construction, has a cruciform or inverted T layout, cross vaults, and low reused columns; it houses frescoes from the 13th and 14th centuries, a medieval sarcophagus with the soul of the deceased supported by angels, and archiepiscopal burials. Obstructed in the 19th century, it was rediscovered in 1901 and recovered through 20th-century restorations. The 18th-century facade, designed by Mauro Manieri, features statues of saints, twisted columns, floral decorations, and the coat of arms of Archbishop Gian Battista Stella. In 1964, Pope Paul VI elevated the cathedral to the dignity of a minor basilica.