Convent of Saint Agostino

The cathedral in Matera is dedicated to Mary (as the Madonna della Bruna) and to St. Eustace, the ancient patron saint of Matera. The cathedral dates to the 13th century and is built upon the site of an older church that was also dedicated to St. Eustace. It is located on the hill between the 2 main Sassi (see another post).
The cathedral is built in what is called Apulian Romanesque style. This style has the heavy walls of a Romanesque building, but minimal windows. I'm told this is an adaptation developed to minimize interior solar gain as this is an extremely hot region for most of the year.
The 1st picture is of the central nave of this ornate church.
The 2nd picture of the side chapel with the glass floor shows some frescoes from the predecessor church that had been excavated. The 3rd picture is of the baptistry at the rear of the church. The frescoes have been uncovered by removing a section of the marble cladding that had been added during a previous renovation.
The 4th and 5th pictures are side chapels. The 4th is the chapel if the Annunciation, and the 5th is the chapel of the Holy Sacrament.
The last picture looks diagonally across the main church space to show a bit more of the architecture and artwork.Read more