Otranto's Cathedral

The Cathedral of Santa Maria Annunziata is the most important place of Catholic worship in Otranto, and the mother church of the homonymous archdiocese.
Built on the ruins of a messapic village, a Roman domus and an early Christian temple, it was founded in 1068 by Norman Bishop Guglielmo. It is a synthesis of different architectural styles including Byzantine, Christian and Romanesque. It was consecrated on August 1, 1088.
In August 1480, the cathedral was the scene of a terrible carnage; the Turks conquered the city after a few days of siege and entered the church, killing the clergy and civilians who had taken refuge there. It was converted into a mosque and all the frescoes dating back to the 13th century were destroyed. In 1481, after the liberation of Otranto by the troops of Alfonso V of Aragon, it was heavily reshaped.