Period of construction: 1087–1089
Address: 13 Largo Abate Elia, 70122 Bari, Italy
Travel directions: From the Bari railway station go along via Sparano — Cattedrale — via Carmine — Arco San Nicola — Piazza San Nicola. Or walk along the seafront in the direction of Porto — Arco San Nicola — Largo Urbano II — Piazza San Nicola.
Website: http://www.basilicasannicola.
Coordinates: 41.1303,16.8697
Basilica of St Nicholas in Bari: History and Treasures
At the outset of the 11th century, Bari, the wealthiest city in Southern Italy, was not only ousted from the Middle Eastern markets but was also at the risk of losing its influence in the region. The enterprising city nobility had to show miracles of ingenuity to find a way out of this difficult situation. The plan, eventually accepted, was to steal the relics of St Nicholas, since it would help make the city an important religious centre. Such ventures were not a rare thing in the Middle Ages and, as a rule, they would achieve their goal, rallying citizens round a sacred symbol and attracting worshippers from other cities.
The choice of St Nicholas seemed logical since it was the second most common name in Bari after John. There were three or four churches dedicated to St Nicholas in the city. Besides, ships from Bari would pass the city of Myra on their way to Syria, making it easy for sailors to get into the city in the guise of merchants without sending a special expedition.
In the beginning of 1087, three ships loaded with grain and agricultural products set course for Asia Minor, as usual. On their way back, mooring the ships in Myra and leaving a guard inside, forty-seven sailors, hiding arms under their coats, walked some three kilometres from the port to the Church of St Nicholas and entered it in the guise of pilgrims. One of them, young Mathew, smashed the lid of the tomb, took the relics and handed them over to two priests, Lupus and Grimoald. Defending themselves against the citizens of Myra who tried to stop them, the Bari sailors made their way to the ships.
On board, captains and masterminds of the theft had a violent quarrel, as they could not decide where to keep the relics. It turned out that the most authoritative person in Bari at the time was the abbot of the Benedictine Monastery, Elias, who managed to reconcile the captains. They handed over the holy relics to him and he was to keep them until the decision regarding their future fate had to be made. Later Elias was commissioned to convert a courtyard belonging to the Catapan, Byzantine governor of this province, into a splendid church where the shrine has been kept to this day.
The transfer of the saint’s relics opened a new page in the history of Bari. The city, which was the Byzantine capital of Southern Italy, becomes the city of St Nicholas.
Thanks to Elias, who had been unanimously elected as archbishop upon the death of Urso, the construction of the crypt was completed in less than two years. On 1 October 1089, Pope Urban II arrived in Bari to lay the relics of St Nicholas beneath the crypt’s altar, where they have been kept to this day.
Pilgrims from all over the world were flocking to Bari while Abbot Elias was still constructing the upper basilica. In 1096, the best representatives of the European medieval knighthood went down the crypt’s stairs to venerate the holy relics of St Nicholas before setting off on a crusade for Jerusalem.
When Prince Roger II, the first King of Sicily (1130), came to power, he ordered to embed an enamel in the basilica’s architrave, depicting the scene of his coronation by St Nicholas. Supposedly, two external galleries built on the level of matronaea (interior side galleries) also date back to the rule of Roger II.
In 1098, at the insistence of Pope Urban II, the Council of Bari was convened in attendance of 185 bishops representing both Latin and Greek population of Southern Italy. To mark the visit of the Pope, Abbot Elias ordered to make a special throne. The throne was made of a single piece of stone. Its upper part was decorated in the Byzantine manner, while the lower part in the Romanesque and Norman style. The throne is notable for its exquisite sculptural compositions. Two Saracen slaves, with faces twisted in anger and pain, support the cathedra, contrasting with the calm central figure of a pilgrim who is looking with gratitude at an ideal person sitting on the throne.
Abbot Eustathius continued Elias’s work upon the latter’s death. In the first two decades of the 12th century, he decorated with splendid carvings the central portal and the ciborium covering the main altar of the upper basilica.
The basilica was consecrated at the time of the Swabian rule. In 1197, the knights who were about to set off on another crusade came to Bari to attend the ceremony.
The golden age of the basilica began when the House of Anjou came to power in 1266. The church managed to return all its former property under Charles I and was flourishing thanks to generous donations of Charles II. The king’s lavishness was caused by his gratitude to St Nicholas for delivering him from death in captivity.
In 1300, the king made Archbishop Romualdo Grisone take a decision, according to which the Basilica of St Nicholas was taken out of the jurisdiction of the archbishop of Bari. In 1301, the king paid a visit to his “royal chapel”.
Among other things, Charles II granted to the basilica three fiefs: Rutigliano, Sannicandro and Grumo. These fiefs, together with the Monastery of All Saints, granted earlier, earned as much as 400 golden ounces. In 1309, at the insistence of the king, the archbishop of Bari expanded the basilica’s possessions by granting to it the Byzantine Church of St George located in a courtyard opposite the basilica.
At that time the Treasury of St Nicholas was set up. When the post of treasurer, the second most important post after that of rector, was established, the canons took charge of financial statements concerning the basilica’s profits, as well as of preservation of valuable gifts, such as liturgical utensils, and the archive of historical, literary, juridical, and medical writings on parchment, which were being collected there from the 12th century onwards.
Architectural activities reached its peak under Robert the Wise (1309-1343). External arches were bricked up; family chapels were built inside the church, thereby effecting radical changes of its interior. However, the splendor of the basilica’s interior was achieved at the cost of its façade’s decoration: the steady rhythm of arches was replaced by the monotony of flat walls.
It was at the time of great reconstructions that the Serbian tsars’ gifts arrived in Bari. The first documented donation was a large silver altar sent by Stefan Uroš II Milutin (1282-1321), King of Serbia. The altar was placed above the relics of St Nicholas and was kept there until 1684, when, as a result of the wide-front Baroque’s “attack”, was sent to Naples for remelting and reengraving in the new style. Among other extant gifts is a large icon sent by Stefan Uroš III Dečanski, which was first placed in the Treasury and later behind the tomb of St Nicholas.
The first written account of the miracleworking column, which today is kept behind the metal railings in the right corner of the crypt, dates back to 1359. It was mentioned in the last will by Niccolo Acciaiuoli, a powerful counselor to Queen Joanna. As the will reads, St Nicholas himself, assisted by two angels, placed the column there on the eve of the crypt’s consecration by Pope Urban II on 1 October 1089.
The period of the Aragon dynasty’s rule was marked by the construction of three arcades designed to reinforce the basilica after a severe earthquake in 1456.
In the 16th century, the basilica’s vault underwent reconstruction, as one can judge by traces of the Renaissance frescoes. However, the most significant change of that period was the construction in the central apse of the Mausoleum of Bona Sforza, Duchess of Bari and mighty Queen of Poland, who died in 1557.
The next century saw renewal of the wooden ambo in the Baroque style. In 1684, the old silver altar of Stefan Uroš II Milutin was remade, and the crypt’s altar received a new, Baroque, “cover”. Yet, the major 17th century art work was a large gilded vault over the central nave and transept, with paintings by Carlo Rosa from Bitonto, who worked on it with his apprentices for ten years (1661-1671).
The Russian pilgrimages to Bari became more frequent in the last years of the 17th century, as evidenced by the extant travel diaries. At the outset of the 18th century, the flow of pilgrims increased considerably.
Artistically the 18th and the 19th centuries were in the main an echo of the Baroque period. Some parts of the basilica underwent restoration. The roof was reinforced, but no significant pieces of art were created to mark the beginning of a new artistic epoch in the history of the church.
When the French troops occupied Bari in 1799, the Treasury sustained heavy losses. The French stormed into the Basilica of St Nicholas and seized most of the golden and silver makes. Luckily, the most precious treasures had been hidden.
The 19th century marked the dawn of a new historical period. New laws of 1806 put an end to the basilica’s fiefs in Rutigliano and Sannicandro. As a result, the profits dropped and the church’s charitable activities had to be revised. For instance, the pilgrims who would come to Bari from distant lands no longer received meals for free during three days.
The second half of the 19th century saw a marked increase in pilgrimages to Bari, which prompted the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society to build a Russian church there. Nowadays everyone can come and see that church, with its green domes reaching for the sky.
In 1861, the basilica came under the jurisdiction of the King of Italy, which resulted in a conflict with the Vatican. The government put up the basilica’s property for sale and in 1892 entrusted the administration of the church to a secular commission. The situation clarified to some extent in 1929, when an agreement between the state and the Church was reached. It led to considerable juridical changes: the Italian government was declared rightful owner of the basilica’s property, while the Pope of Rome reassumed authority over the basilica’s clergy.