The Diocesan Museum «San Riccardo» of Andria, at via Domenico de Anellis 46, right in the historic centre, a few steps from the cathedral, the bishop's palace and the ducal palace, gathers and keeps the works of sacred art of the diocese's territory.
What to see
The museum extends over about one thousand four hundred square metres spread over four levels, around a central atrium surrounded by galleries. The first floor offers an excursus on the history of the diocese from its origins to the early 19th century through works of sacred art: among them the panels of the Redeemer and the Virgin, of about 1490, the wooden throne of Francesco del Balzo, the bust of Francesco II del Balzo, of about 1472, an icon of the Madonna and Child of the 12th century, a portable altar called of San Gregorio, of the late 12th century, and the marble sarcophagus of Saint Riccardo. The sections of the second floor are devoted to the spiritual and organisational renewal of the diocese between the 19th and 20th centuries, the work of enlightened bishops who revived faith also with a new impulse to the cult of Saint Riccardo, patron of Andria: the elements of the recomposition of his relics in a new urn of gilded wood are displayed, with the silver cast of the head, the mitre and the crozier, together with reliquaries, liturgical objects and vestments in embroidered fabrics.
The museum was established on 20 May 1972 by decree of Bishop Giuseppe Lanave, with the aim of recovering, keeping and preserving the works gathered in the diocesan territory. Bishop Raffaele Calabro arranged its division into three sections, in the three centres of the diocese: Andria, Canosa di Puglia and Minervino Murge; the Andria section was placed in the seat of the Comunità Braccianti, formerly palazzo Margiotta, a building constructed from 1952 by a social building site that gave work to unemployed farm labourers. The modernisation works, wanted by Bishop Luigi Mansi, ended in March 2019, with diocesan funds, funds from the 8 per mille, European funds through the Puglia Region, and money from private donors and the Comune.
Visiting
The museum is at via Domenico de Anellis 46, in Andria; on the ground floor are the ticket office, the bookshop and a conference room, but hours and tickets should be checked on the official site (museodiocesanoandria.it), because the sources consulted do not give them.
Our editors' tip
Go up to the second floor for the gilded wooden urn of Saint Riccardo with the silver cast of the head: it shows how the cult of the patron was renewed between the 19th and 20th centuries, and completes a visit to the cathedral, which keeps his remains.
