Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: stoup

Molfetta was probably been founded by the Greeks around the 4th century BC. Later it was Roman and after the fall of the Roman Empire, it was ruled by the Goths, who reinforced the city walls in the response of raids of Saracene pirates. The settlement developed under the alternate dominion of the Byzantines and Longobards. The Normans occupied Molfetta mid 11th century. Under the Norman rule, Molfetta became, just like Bari and Brindisi, an important starting point during the period of the crusades. Hospitals got erected to care for returning crusaders and hospices to host people heading to the "Holy Land". - The "Duomo di San Corrado" was erected between the second half of the 12th and the first half of the 13th century on a cliff overlooking the sea. First dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta, it is now dedicated to "San Corrado", patron saint of Molfetta. San Conrado (aka "Conrad of Bavaria", "Konrad von Bayern") was a son of Henry the Black, Duke of Bavaria. Conrad was a disciple of Bernard of Clairvaux and a Cistercian monk. He journeyed to the "Holy Land" with the purpose of living there as a hermit but had to return. Returning to Apulia he stopped near Bari, where he lived as a hermit. The Duomo is a very special example of Apulian Romanesque architecture, as it is the largest of the Romanesque churches with the central nave covered with three domes. The artists had a nice kind of humour. Here an eel lurks in the holy water stoup.

As I have taken already so many photos of Saint Chaffre over the years, I will only add two know Legends tell, that a small community of hermits lived here in the 6th century. A century later the group was led by (Saint) Eudes and after him by Eudes´ nephew (Saint) Theofrede. Theofrede got killed by the locals - and so he became a martyr named Saint Chaffre. The monastery adopted the Benedictine rule in 817 and found support from Louis the Pious. In the following two centuries three churches were erected here. All collapsed due to the unstable ground. The current, former abbey church was built from 1074 on. The monastery (and the relics of Saint Chaffre) were just a day´s walk from Le Puy, where the Via Podiensis started and many pilgrims gathered. It may well be, that the wealthiness of the abbey, was related to the pilgrim-business. An interesting holy water stoup consisting out of two part, "glued" together. A crozier, a mitra and a fleur-de-lis? I have no idea about it, maybe it looks older than it is.

The parish church Saint-Exupère exists here since the 10th century, when it was part of a priory. The nave is probably the oldest part of the structure, as old as this stoup. The holy water is guarded by a stoic man´s cold face.