Manfredonia Cathedral

The construction of a cathedral in Manfredonia, after the transferral here of the seat of the bishops of Siponto, began on 7 February 1270 and finished in 1274.

The first building was destroyed by the Turks in 1620, and was not rebuilt until 1700, using the ruins of the old Angevin church on the authority of the then bishop, Bartolomeo della Cueva, Cardinal Vincenzo Maria Orsini (later Pope Benedict XIII), and Mgr.

The bell from the old campanile given by Archbishop Marullo in 1646 and cast by the famous Napoletan bellsetter Onofrio Giordano was transferred to the new tower.

Here are preserved the portraits of the archbishops (Orsini, Muscettola, Rivera, Tagliatela and others), some parchments, the baptismal registers from 1600 onwards and various other books.

The painting and the statue of the Madonna with her splendid crown of gold sprinkled with diamonds were blessed by Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, later Pope John XXIII, on 28 August 1955, the feast of the Coronation of the Virgin.