Bitetto ( Barese: ; la, Vitetum, or ) is a town and '' comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bari,

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

, Italy.

Main Sights

The main attraction of Bitetto is the cathedral, dedicated to Saint Michael, one of the main examples of Apulian Romanesque architecture, built in 1335. It has a sober façade divided by false columns with a big

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' w ...

. Of the three portals, the central one has a rich series of sculptures: two stone lions supporting columns with carved capitals showing vegetable motifs; these in turn support is a lunette with basreliefs of Christ and the twelve apostles. The frame has instead scenes from the New Testament. The interior was plastered in the 18th century, but was restored to the original Romanesque style in 1959. It has a nave and two aisles; the transept has three apses. The diocese of which the building was the cathedral was founded at some date between a bull of Pope John XIX in 1025, which does not mention it among the

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

sees of

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

, and the bull ''Quia nostris temporibus'' of

Pope Urban II Pope Urban II ( la, Urbanus II; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening th ...

in 1089, which does list it among them. Its bishop Raus, the first whose name is known, took part in the Third Lateran Council in 1179. Its last bishop died on 1 January 1798. In 1818, the see was incorporated into the archdiocese of Bari. No longer a residential bishopric, Bitetto (Bitettum in Latin) is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 851

Twin Towns

* Prienai,

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

* Józefów, Poland

References

Cities and towns in Apulia {{Apulia-geo-stub