The church of San Giacomo is a twelfth-century church in Trani, on via Romito, in the historic centre of the city. It was the first cathedral of the archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie and was anciently called the basilica of Santa Maria de Russis.
What to see
It was built in the Romanesque style around 1143; the facade was transformed in 1647, as a plaque on the main portal attests. The portal has an archivolt with leaves and rosary beads and is flanked by two columns resting on elephants, one of which carries a griffin and the other a lion; higher up are three orders of corbels with human and animal figures. The interior has a single apse.
In the crypt was the tomb of Saint Nicholas the Pilgrim, patron of the city, and until 2016 some statues of the Good Friday Procession of the Mysteries were kept there, owned by the Archconfraternity of the Most Holy Sacrament. The presence of the Templars in Trani is attested from 1142, and it has been suggested that their domus in the city was this very church, when it was called Santa Maria de Russis, or else the church of San Giovanni, now vanished, cited in twelfth-century documents, including one of 1191, where it is called a grange of the Knights of the Temple.
Visiting
The church is on via Romito, in the historic centre of Trani. The sources consulted give no opening hours or visiting arrangements: check them.
Our editors' tip
On the Templar question it is worth remembering that in Trani the church of Ognissanti, on the harbour, is traditionally called that of the Templars, but no historical documents link it directly to the Order.
