The church of St. Mary Major, built by Leo on the cemetery area of St. Peter’s Church, has three naves, resting on cruciform pillars supporting raised arches. The present building is covered with lunetted barrel and cross vaults, probably the result of 18th-century renovations, while the hemispherical dome on the third bay of the nave is original. The facade, divided into two floors by a corbelled cornice, is traversed in the lower area by a theory of blind arcades interspersed with lozenge-shaped openings.

Swabian elements include the floor level lowered from the ancient church to accentuate the momentum of the supporting pillars and the hall extended toward the apse of St. Peter’s Church. The façade with five blind arches on pilasters bears precious lozenges with the bottom decorated with floral motifs. The late Romanesque portal is surmounted by a hanging porch resting on gryphons and enhanced by a particular wealth of valuable ornamentation.

On the lower right side of the facade are ship engravings, probably Norman, testifying to pilgrims from northern Europe. Research by Domenico L. Moretti, published in 2019, documented numerous interior and exterior engravings, with a concentration of naval graffiti on the first exterior rows. The vessels, datable to the 12th century and made by skilled stonemasons or sailors, are probably votive offerings of pilgrims departing from Siponto to the Sanctuary of St. Michael and the Holy Land, confirmed by the historical-architectural context of the building rebuilt between the 11th and 13th centuries by Archbishop Leone Garganico and restored in 1198 under Constance of Altavilla. The portal’s sculptural apparatus, cornice brackets and decorative elements document the relations between Capitanata and Abruzzo between the 12th and 13th centuries, mediated by the Pulsano monastery. These testimonies attest to the vitality of medieval maritime pilgrimage and offer chronological elements for dating the decorative phases, contributing to the historical-artistic reconstruction of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore.

Bibliography

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