Of the cathedral that Robert Guiscard had begun in 1076, what mainly survives is the bell tower: 50 metres of stone raised in 1153 on the orders of Roger II by a builder called Noslo di Remerio. The rest of the church has been knocked down and put back up by earthquakes so often that reconstructing its phases is a puzzle, and the Baroque appearance you see today comes from the works of 1770, opened by Archbishop Spinelli to repair the damage of the 1694 quake.
What to see
The tower can be read from the ground like a page: its two upper floors open into four twin-light windows each, the frames alternate white Trani stone with black lava stone, and the two-colour inlay draws fantastical animals. The spire, on the other hand, is recent: the topmost storey collapsed in the earthquake of 1851 and was replaced by a steeple modelled on the bell tower of Venosa cathedral.
Inside, the eighteenth-century church keeps splinters of the Norman one: the stone columns of the nave, a stretch of arch on the right-hand wall and, higher up towards the transept, the opening that once led to the women's gallery. Spinelli's century left the coffered ceiling, the bishop's throne, the pulpit and the organ. In the right transept a large reliquary holds the statue of Saint Alexander, martyr and patron of the city and of the diocese; on the walls hang his Martyrdom, painted by Paolo De Matteis in 1712, and a Byzantine-style Madonna romea whose date and origin are both unknown.
Visiting
You come in from the square, whose paving was relaid at the end of 2007, through the doors blessed in 2010: the six bronze panels tell the Annunciation, the Assumption, the descent of the Holy Spirit, the five papal councils held at Melfi, the martyrdom of Saint Alexander and a pastoral visit. Once inside, take the left aisle: the carved slab there reproduces the bull with which Pius XII raised the church to a minor basilica in 1958.
Our editors' tip
Walk right round the bell tower and look at it against the light late in the day: the black and white inlay of the windows stands out better and you will pick out the outlines of the animals. Then, if Venosa is also on your list, keep this spire in mind — you will find its model up there.