Taranto - Cattedrale di San Cataldo

Taranto located on a peninsula was founded by Greek settlers and during the period of Greek colonization in Southern Italy, the city was among the most important in "Magna Graecia". During the Second Punic War, Taranto supported Hannibal in Italy and opened it´s doors to his troops in 212 BC, but when Romans recaptured Taranto three years later, they massacred the citizens and looted the town. It became a Roman colony later.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Taranto got fortified. In 547 Taranto asked a Byzantine general for support. He greatly reduced the size of the city in order to be able to defend it. So he separated the part of the isthmus from the actual city area, making an island out of the peninsula and fortified it strongly. Nevertheless, three years later, the city was conquered by the Ostrogoth troops of Totila. Later Taranto was ruled by Langobards. The city was conquered by the Saracens in 839 and an emirate existed up to 880 when it was taken by a Byzantine army, but in 927 the Saracens were back looted and destroyed the city. It was rebuilt under Byzantine power from 967 on. Normans conquered Taranto in the second half of the 11th century and founded the "Principality of Taranto" 1086, later bequeathed by Frederic II to his son Manfred.

The Old Town ("Città Vecchia") still retains the same street layout of 967, when the Byzantines rebuilt it after Saracen troops had razed to the ground in 927. Still in 1746 the entire population of Taranto resided in Old Town. By 2013 the population of the Old Town was just 1000 while the wider city had more than 200000 inhabitants. Today the structural structure of the old town in this area is currently in a disastrous state. Many houses are abandoned, in danger of collapsing or already in ruins. The old town today is a drastic example of an urban state of neglect.

The Taranto Cathedral is located in the centre of the old town in a place, where the Greek settlers had a temple already. The construction of the church was started in the second half of the 10th century by the Byzantines during the reconstruction of the city. End of the 11th century the Byzantine structure was remodelled and enlarged by Norman builders. The current cathedral, dedicated Saint Cataldo, an Irish monk, who became bishop here in the 7th century, was built, "reusing" large parts of the Byzantine building and so creating a Romanesque basilica on a Latin Cross.

The cathedral measures 84 meters in length and 24 in width, has a central nave, two side aisles and a transept. The nave and the aisles are divided by a double series of eight columns surmounted by differently made capitals.

Obviously, the floor of the cathedral was covered by a large mosaic, just like it still exists in Otranto. Here only a few parts of the mosaic survived the times.