Termoli - Cattedrale di Santa Maria della Purificazione

Termoli is a city with a population of about 32.000, located in Molise, since 1970 the newest region in Italy. Termoli was a Lombard county until the arrival of the Normans, under which it flourished and expanded.

The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Termoli-Larino.

The first church was built around the 6th century on the ruins of a temple. There is a reference to a larger church in 1037, a few years after a synod in 969, which was attended by the first bishop of Termoli. The present Romanesque building was constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries on the site of its predecessors and is attributed to Alfano da Termoli.

The cathedral was restored after an earthquake in 1464 and again after an attack by Ottoman Turks in 1566. During other renovation works in 1760 and 1962, the relics of Saint Bassus of Lucera and of Saint Timothy respectively, patron saints of the city of Termoli, were discovered.

The lower part of the facade corresponds to the original, Romanesque construction, the upper one comes from the restoration after the earthquake of 1456 and is Gothic.

The tympanum is quite damaged