The “A. M. Kalefati” Diocesan Museum in Oria is located on the ground floor of the Episcopal Palace. The building stands on the ancient Messapian acropolis, as some 19th-century evidence suggests, which records the presence here of a mosaic depicting a lion holding a serpent in its jaws (elements that are found in the later city coat of arms where the serpent emerges from a castle, two lions rest on the castle, and a stork tries to seize the castle); today the Episcopal Palace is located next to the basilica and connected to it by an internal passage. The current palace was built by the Archbishop of Oria Gian Carlo Bovio between 1564 and 1570; inside are architectural elements from the ancient Messapian acropolis and the old cathedral that occupied the 18th-century basilica. Of particular historical and artistic interest are some marble columns, a classical-age column re-carved in the Middle Ages with a figure of an archer on horseback, some friezes and architectural details of the ancient church, and two sculpted lions. Additionally, inside are fine frescoed ceilings attributed to Pellegrino Ribaldi of the Raphael school.
Information on Diocesan Museum Alessandro Maria Kalefati
Piazza Cattedrale, 2
72024 Oria (Brindisi)
0831845093
curia@oria.chiesacattolica.it
https://www.ameipuglia.it
Source: MIBACT
