Bitetto - San Michele Arcangelo

After the fall of the Roman Empire and the defeat of the Goths and Lombards, Apulia was reconquered by the Byzantine Empire. A Byzantine monastery was founded to control the population, which suffered from a heavy tax burden.

After the expulsion of the Byzantines from Bari by Norman Roberto il Guiscardo in 1071 things changed. Bitetto was elevated to a bishopric and the archbishop received nearby Bitritto as a fief. The town was destroyed twice in 1164 by William the Wicked (Guglielmo il Malo) during the rebellion against his father Roger II.

The church served as the cathedral of the diocese of Bitetto , which existed until 1818.

The cathedral was built between 1026 and 1089, but the current appearance is due to a reconstruction in 1335, carried out by Master Lillo da Barletta. Further changes were made in the 16th century. These alterations required a new consecration so that in 1613 the cathedral, already consecrated in honor of Maria Assunta, was dedicated to the Archangel Michael.

The portal has an early Gothic tympanum (former upload) and older Romanesque sides, probably from the first construction. Two hybrid creatures of humans and plants. The monkey, which also sprouts out of a plant, sniffs the fruit. Nightmares in stone.