Things to see in Gravina in Puglia

Gravina in Puglia is in Apulia, a region in the southeast of Italy.

IAT Gravina (Ufficio informazioni), Piazza Benedetto XIII (near the Civic Museum), ☏ +39 0803269065, Daily 09:00-13:00, 16:00-20:00. Tourist information office.

Gravina is in a peculiar territory made out of Karst. The city's subsoil has many underground cavities. Gravina is crossed by the Gravina river on its eastern side. The river has modeled a canyon-like conformation over the years, on which there is a copious amount of rocky churches. The climate is typically Mediterranean: winters are relatively mild, with temperatures that usually don't go below 0°C. On the other hand, summers are hot and dry.

Gravina has a very long history.

Churches

Co-cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta (Cattedrale Santa Maria Assunta). The facade, tripartite by two pilasters, is made up of three portals, of which the central one is larger but unfinished, and a rose window, a remnant of the ancient Romanesque church, in the center of which is a bas-relief of the Assumption. The two side portals are embellished with high reliefs and two small statues depicting Christ; the left portal is dated 1495. The central portal is a recent work: it is made up of 24 panels that tell evangelical episodes. The bell tower was completed in 1698 by Cardinal Vincenzo Maria Orsini with the construction of the "cipollone"(Big Onion) on its top. Protruding from the left aisle and overhanging the ravine is the so-called big chapel, built in the first half of the 17th century, with two floors. The interior of the church has three naves divided by columns with bare capitals. The ceiling is in carved and gilded wood, in Baroque style: four large canvases were applied to it in the seventeenth century.