"The Cathedral of Bitonto, built during the second half of the XIIth cent., is one of the most beautiful Romanesque constructions in Puglia. The main facade comprises all the characteristic features common to Mediaval churches. Divided into three sections by pillars it has three finely decorated doorways; the central one is flanked by two lions holding up columns with sculpted capitals and griffins above, which, in turn, support the arch span decorated with thorny acanthus leaves. In the lunette are depicted "The Triumph of Christ over Death" and "The Liberation of the Prophets". Above the arched vault, finishing off the decorations, is the figure of an eagle or, as some would have it, a pelican with its wings outspread. A floor-dividing ledge divides the lower section of the facade from the upper one which contains two lovely double bay windows in line with the doorway. Higher up sits a very fine rose window with sixteen spokes bearing the figure of a horse griffin at the top of its aarch vault. The upper section of the facade is surrounded by hanging arches running along the entire cornice. Some incomplete elements such as the pilasters and the arch form over the central doorway would suggest that an earlier design may have existed, that was never fully translated into reality. Also of interest are the other facade and in particular the one on the South side that features six large round arches and an elegant little loggia with slim columns and capitals that are all different from one another. Above the pillars standing between the arches there are sculptures of the four Evangelists and of the Virgin Mary. The interior is austere and sober; there are not many iconographical decorative works but some "pieces" of sculpture are of very fine craftsmanship; the groundplan is of the Latin cross form (positioned along an East to West axis) and is divided into three naves with pillars with columns resting against them, surmounted by exquisit capitals with mythological and floral motifs, from which span the rounded arches and the matroneum with hexaphore above. The side walls are pierced with four single bay windows on each side through which light filters into the interior. The transept is entered through a triumphal arch; it is raised up on three steps and encloses the central apse where the main altar stands. The baptism font is probably attributable to the School of Nicolaus and comprises a single block of stone decorated with twining vines and palms, and resting on a lily patterned base is the pergamo, finely carved and created in the XVIIth cent. wwith material taken from the ciborium and from the pulpit. The pulpit itself is a marvellous work by Nicolaus Magister, as may be read on the back of the lectern, was reshaped in the XVIIIth cent.; the front is divided into squares with small rose motives in the centre and is supported by XVIIIth cent. columns. Its highly effective sculptural decoration may be amired in such details as the eagle that supports the reading lectern and the relief of the balustrade of the staircase. To the sides of the main doorway stand the mausolei of Mons. Cornelio Musso (1554-1571), one of the fathers of the Council of Trent and of Bishop Giovanni Barba (1737-1749). The crypt is the same size as the transept and is divided into four naves by columns taken from earlier constructions, with beautiful capitals. Also of interest is the mausoleum of Giovanni Maria De Ferrariis, a work crafted by the Neapolitan sculptor Gerolamo D'Auria to a commission of 1580."
Informationstafel an der Kathedrale von Bitonto, engl. Text