The Gallipoli Cathedral, formally the Co-Cathedral Basilica of Saint Agatha the Virgin (Italian: Basilica Concattedrale di Sant'Agata Vergine), is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Gallipoli in Apulia, Italy. Completed in 1696, the Baroque church is a minor basilica and the co-cathedral of the Diocese of Nardò-Gallipoli.
The Gallipoli Cathedral was constructed between 1629 and 1696, and is dedicated to Saint Agatha of Sicily.[1]
The Baroque facade of the cathedral was designed by Giuseppe Zimbalo,[2] Francesco Bischetini, and Scipione Lachibari. It is constructed out of carparo stone, sourced from Southern Italy.[3] The church was built with a cruciform floorpan in the shape of a Latin cross.[2]
The interior of the church is a mixture of the Byzantine and Renaissance styles. The nave is flanked by columns of grey marble, which support an arcade.[4] The interior is ornamented by paintings by Giovanni Andrea Coppola, a painter native to Gallipoli.[1] Nicolò Malinconico painted the frescoes on the walls and in the cupola, which depicts the martyrdom of Saint Agatha.[5]
The cathedral's altar is made of a reused Ancient Roman marble stele. There is an Ancient Greek inscription on the stele that reads:[6]
[Δωρ]ον τιμαλφεστατον . . . πελω. / Εγω προσαχ[θεν τη]
τραπεζη τη ξενη / . . . ηπερ ην Μαρζηλιου / [ . . . τριφε]γγους
και τριφω[του . . .]. / Αυθις δε πει[σθεις τη προ]θυμια παση /
Μαγι[. . .]ου πατρωνος αμα και θυτου, / κυρις καθυφιζανεν
ευσεβοφρον(ως) / Παντολεων Προεδρος τουδε του θρονου.
Translated into English:[6]
I am a most precious gift . . . I was placed on the remarkable altar . . . , which belonged
to Marsilios, three times glittering and three times luminous. Acceding to the ardent
desire of Magi . . . os, patron and priest, lord bishop Pantoleon, holder of this throne,
sits with great piety.