In a local Tarantine legend, according to a document of the 11th or 12th century,[3] the Gospel was preached in Taranto by St. Peter the Apostle.

[5] The real Cataldus was an Irish bishop from Rachau (or Rachan) of the 6th century, who happened to die in Taranto during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Orontius, the son of an imperial treasurer, had been converted to Christianity by Justus, a disciple of St. Paul, who had landed at the port of Saint Cataldus and preached to the population in the locality of Lecce in the time of Nero, despite harassment by imperial officials.

[3] In the pontificate of St. Gregory the Great (590–604), the names of three bishops who filled the episcopal chair are known: Andreas (590), Joannes (601), and Honorius (603).

Filippo (1138) was deposed for supporting the antipope Anacletus II and died in the monastery of Chiaravalle.

It includes the Basilian Abbey of S. Maria di Talfano, where there are still some Albanians following the Greek Rite.