Bisceglie - Concattedrale di San Pietro Apostolo

Like all places along the Adriatic coast, Bisceglie has Greek and Roman roots, but after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the area was not really "developed". First small monasteries were founded, when the Lombards ruled the area before the Saracens took over for three decades in the 9th century. Around 1000 the Normans arrived in Southern Italy. A vassal of Robert Guiscard became Count of Trani in 1042. At that time the fortification of the place, that is Bisceglie now, started. In 1063 the bishopric of Bisceglie was established and the construction of the cathedral was started.

The building was completed already around 1100, but then the alterations started, that over the centuries ruined the "original" church. The last restoration tried to recreate its former glory, what at that time meant to get out all of the suffocating Baroque addons of the late 18th century.

Here is one of the two fierce griffins, that guard the door of the main portal.