Trani Tourist Attractions

To the northwest of the harbor in Trani, by the sea, stands the cathedral (1150-1250), one of the finest Romanesque churches in Apulia, which shows Norman influences. It has a Romanesque west doorway (13th century carvings) and beautiful bronze doors (c. 1180) by the bronze founder Barisano da Trani. The 32 sections are decorated with figures of Christ, the Virgin, Apostles and Saints. The campanile (reconstructed) is almost detached from the nave. The impressive interior of the cathedral, the only example of an Apulian church with double columns, was restored to its original Romanesque form in 1952-55. From the side aisles there is access to the Crypt of St Nicholas the Pilgrim (d. 1094), begun about 1100 and decorated with fine capitals. The lower church, the Chiesa dei Santa Maria della Scala (seventh century), a rectangular space with an ambulatory, contains the Crypt of St Leucius (c. 670) under the transept. St Leucius was the first bishop of Brindisi (seventh century).

To the west of the cathedral is the Castello (1233-49) of Frederick II.

On the west side of the harbor in Trani we find the Gothic Palace of Simone Caccetta (15th century) and a little way south of this the church of Ognissanti, with a deep porch, which was formerly a Templars' hospice; above the doorway are Romanesque carvings of the Annunciation and the Tree of Life.

East of the harbor in Trani, by the Baroque church of San Domenico, are the municipal gardens (Villa Comunale), with three Roman milestones from the Via Traiana which ran from Benevento by way of Canosa, Ruvo, Bari and Egnazia to Brindisi. From the west end of the gardens a view of the harbor and the cathedral can be enjoyed.