The diocesan museum of Gallipoli is located in

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

and is run by the Diocese of Nardò-Gallipoli.

Overview

The diocesan museum of Gallipoli was officially inaugurated on July 12, 2004, through an initiative by the

Italian Episcopal Conference The Italian Episcopal Conference ( it, Conferenza Episcopale Italiana) or CEI is the episcopal conference of the Italian bishops of the Catholic Church, the official assembly of the bishops in Italy. The conference was founded in 1971 and carrie ...

''(Conferenza Episcopale Italiana, CEI)'', the Diocese of Nardò-Gallipoli, and the community of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Agatha of Gallipoli, with assistance from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and the Italian region of

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

. The idea to open a diocesan museum originated with then-bishop, Aldo Garzia, and was developed by his successors. The architecture is found at the historic center of Gallipoli at the most important point of the old city. The museum occupies space inside the old ''

palazzo A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

'' of Gallipoli's seminary which is adjacent to the Cathedral Basilica whose construction began in 1750. The structure has substantially preserved its original look and, with the numerous Baroque decorations, covers 900 square meters laid out on three floors. The museum contains 553 objects, including liturgical metal works, vestments, miters, pastoral and pectoral crosses, numerous portraits, bronze bells, ceramics decorated with coats of arms of all the bishops of the diocese, and works of Gian Domenico Catalano. All of these objects come from the cathedral, the curia, and the bishop's residence. The old chapel on the second floor houses two gold and silver statues of

Saint Agatha Agatha of Sicily () is a Christian saint. Her feast is on 5 February. Agatha was born in Catania, part of the Roman Province of Sicily, and was martyred . She is one of several virgin martyrs who are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mas ...

and

Saint Sebastian Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Dioclet ...

, made in

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and originally owned by the

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

. The statue of Saint Agatha (patron of the diocese and the city, as well as of the cathedral) " … was brought to Gallipoli on June 10, 1760 aboard xebecs at the expense and for the devotion of Msgr. Serafino Brancon and was given to Vicar General Fr. Carlo Zaccaria". Also found here are a

baldacchino A baldachin, or baldaquin (from it, baldacchino), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over h ...

of S.E.R. Msgr. Oronzo Filomarini, precious liturgical vestments, and a 16th-century copy of the Holy Shroud, one of only five in existence (donated by bishop Sebastiano Quintiero Ortiz and made in direct contact with the original in Torino). A silver

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...

, containing a piece of the

True Cross The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...

, is decorated the coat of arms of bishop Alessio Zelodano.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book , last = Natali , first = F. , title = Gallipoli nel Regno di Napoli: dai Normanni all'unitá d'Italia , publisher = M. Congedo , series = Biblioteca di cultura pugliese , issue = v. 2 , year = 2007 , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PMMiAQAAIAAJ , language = it , access-date = 4 December 2018 , page = 606 , isbn = 9788880867166 Religious museums in Italy Museums in Apulia Gallipoli, Apulia

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References