The Monuments of Ostuni

Palazzo Vescovile and the Loggia

In the square, on either side of the Cathedral, are the Bishop’s Palace and the Seminary’s palace joined by an elegant arched loggia (1759), on whose fastigium a winged putto (originally two) was placed. Completely restored in the Rococo style during the 18th century, the building is joined to the adjacent Palazzo del Seminario by the arched Loggia built in 1759, surmounted by a winged putto (although originally they were two).

The current building was rebuilt in 1743 on a previous building built in 1560 and destroyed during an earthquake of 1743. The current building includes the underground, formerly used as prisons, the current prospect with the entrance door on which it stands the emblem of Queen Isabella D’Aragona. In the Episcopal Palace lie the remains of the castle built in 1148 and demolished in 1559.

On the vertical of the entrance door of the building, adjacent to the cathedral parvis, is visible, even if very eroded, a coat of arms with the arms of the Sforza of Milan and the Aragonese of Naples with an inscription engraved on a phylactery. On it we read a Latin motto taken from the biblical book of the Psalms: “CUM UMBRA ALARUM TUARUM PROTEGE NOS” (Under the shadow of your protecting wings). The invocation is addressed to the eagle, symbol of the Sforza family.

This emblem is justified by the marriage that took place in the XV between Gian Galeazzo Sforza and Isabella d’Aragona. Then, on the site occupied by the bishop’s palace, there was a castle that was demolished to make room for the palace of the queen. This, in addition to hosting the regnant, by law was also used by the bishops who over the centuries took possession of it as an exclusive property.

Palazzo Municipale of Ostuni

The Church of San Francesco di Ostuni is a building of Gothic origin, but the original fourteenth-century forms little remains, since in the seventeenth century it was the subject of a full-scale restoration, which donated today’s baroque forms to the building. The facade was designed in 1883 by architect Gaetano Jurleo to adapt it to the forms of the Palazzo Comunale, also in Piazza della Libertà.
Medieval, Baroque and Neoclassical architectural elements are cast in the façade of the Church of San Francesco. The life of Saint Francis is represented in the bronze door, while the statues of San Francesco and Sant’Antonio are still on the façade.
The church of San Francesco develops with a single nave; very beautiful is the polychrome high altar. The façade of the monastery was modified in the same period as that of the church, to give the structure an artistic homogeneity. The rooms of the former monastery are developed on two floors; on the first floor there were the rooms of the friars, while on the ground floor were the spaces used by all the monks.

The church of the Holy Spirit

Behind the spire, on the right, at the beginning of Via Roma, then outside the ancient city walls, stands the small church dedicated to the Holy Spirit. The portal is an authentic jewel of Renaissance decorative sculpture, in fact it is declared a national monument. The bas-reliefs of the lunette on the portal depict the Dormitio Virginis. The Virgin is lying on the bed and is surrounded by the twelve Apostles who devoutly pray waiting for the angels who will accompany the ascent of Our Lady to the Eternal.

The box above, that is the triangular tympanum, symbol of the Divine Spirit, presents in the center, the Madonna surrounded by many small faces. On the corners there is the Annunciation, on the left corner there is the angel with the lily in his hand while on the opposite one there is the Madonna kneeling, as a sign of thanksgiving. In addition to the sculptural representation, what makes the portal magnificent is a series of floral and decorative patterns that encompass every detail.

The two side pilasters close the facial elevation ending at the top with a broken tympanum. The 16th century “1637” which is read on the cusp of the façade refers to the conclusion of the works commissioned at the beginning of the XVII century by the bishop Vincenzo Meligne, who affixed his coat of arms.

The interior does not preserve traces of the original seventeenth-century structure, also because in the twentieth century it was subject to two restorations that covered the church with precious marble concealing perhaps ancient traces.

Among the works preserved inside there is the beautiful painting by Jacopo da San Vito depicting the Madonna with Child and Saints Joachim, Anne and Elizabeth. In a niche there is a seventeenth-century wooden statue of sant’Oronzo and in another niche stands the dressed statue of Our Lady of Good Counsel.