There is a piece of Sicily and of CusenzaMarmi's craftsmanship in the Matera Cathedral, which has been affected by lengthy restoration work and from tomorrow will finally be open for visits and use by all.
In the side balustrades in front of the chancel staircase, CusenzaMarmi made the small columns in ancient jasper from Sicily, the queen stone of the Baroque, to replace the original ones, now deteriorated.
In 2003 it was closed due to several collapses; now, after 13 years of restoration, the Cathedral Basilica in Matera, built between 1230 and 1270 with three cross-vaulted naves and a façade characterized by a large rose window in Apulian Romanesque style, has returned to its former glory. The reopening for worship, with the dedication of the altar, is scheduled for Saturday, March 5, when Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin will also open the Door of the Holy Year of Mercy.
The work-whose total cost exceeded 6 million euros-involved the roof, the attic of the nave, the portals, and the apsidal slope, and led to the upgrading of the coffers and other Baroque-style architectural elements.
The remains of two chapels and paintings from a later period, found in October 2015, in the floor below the floor leading to the sacristy and where the polychrome stone nativity scene, carved in 1534 by Altobello Persio, is housed, will be the subject of subsequent work.
the 11 square-section columns made of ancient jasper from Sicily, a rare and precious stone quarried in the heart of the Sicilian mountains and of which we are the true custodians of its history, were commissioned from us by UniversalMarmi of Matera, with whom a happy cooperation was born for the occasion, and who then mounted them in the restored balustrades of the cathedral.
