The basilica of the Holy Physicians is an important place of worship in Bitonto, in Apulia, dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian. It was built in the second half of the twentieth century, on piazza XXVI Maggio 1734, where the Carolino obelisk stands.
What to see
The foundation stone, to a design by Giovanni Mongiello and Antonio Scivittaro, was laid on 5 May 1960 in the presence of the bishop of Ruvo and Bitonto, Aurelio Marena. Construction went on for thirteen years, until 1973, and on 19 March of that year the same bishop solemnly consecrated the new church; on 13 February 1975 Pope Paul VI raised it to a minor basilica. It keeps the relics of the Holy Physicians Cosmas and Damian, attested at Bitonto since the sixteenth century and previously housed in the church of San Giorgio, in the old town, by then too small for the many faithful. According to the sources, the Bitonto cult of the Holy Physicians is among the most important forms of religious tourism in southern Italy.
The plan is a Latin cross, with a single nave sixty metres long and a transept of twenty. At the centre of the apse are a cathedra of red granite and a crystal structure holding the statues of the Holy Physicians; in a niche on the altar are kept the relics of the saints' arms and hands. On the left wall a large mosaic depicts the apparition of the Immaculate Conception to General Montemar during the battle of Bitonto, in 1734. On the gallery over the entrance stands the large pipe organ, built in 1971 by the Padua firm Ruffatti: it has electric action, a piano-style console in the nave and sixty stops on three manuals and pedal.
Visiting
The basilica is on piazza XXVI Maggio 1734, in Bitonto. The sources consulted give no opening hours or visiting arrangements: check them; the site santimedici.org has information on the cult.
Our editors' tip
During the patronal feast of the Immaculate Conception, the procession that leaves the cathedral ends at the basilica.
