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Born Pietro Francesco Orsini, he was a pope originally from Gravina between 1724 and 1730.
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The church has a single nave and preserves the typical 17th-century grated women's gallery. After a century there was the need to expand the church by lengthening it on the side of the monastery and rebuilding the two side altars, one dedicated to the Madonna del Rosario and the other to San Domenico di Guzman. In the first years of the 19th century the flooring was redone with majolica tiles and the side altars were covered in marble.
On the high altar there is a painting of the Assumption of Mary by Carlo Rosa and on the entrance door there is a grated choir loft and an organ dating back to the 18th century. The church has a two-storey facade marked by pilasters and a crowning with fittings, two large oval oculi and a tribolated window. In the monastery there were a considerable amount of paintings but a conspicuous part passed into state property after the suppression laws.
Cattedrale Santa Maria Assunta
The facade, tripartite by two pilasters, is made up of three portals, of which the central one is larger but unfinished, and a rose window, a remnant of the ancient Romanesque church, in the center of which is a bas-relief of the Assumption. The two side portals are embellished with high reliefs and two small statues depicting Christ; the left portal is dated 1495. The central portal is a recent work: it is made up of 24 panels that tell evangelical episodes. The bell tower was completed in 1698 by Cardinal Vincenzo Maria Orsini with the construction of the "cipollone"(Big Onion) on its top.
Protruding from the left aisle and overhanging the ravine is the so-called big chapel, built in the first half of the 17th century, with two floors. The interior of the church has three naves divided by columns with bare capitals. The ceiling is in carved and gilded wood, in Baroque style: four large canvases were applied to it in the seventeenth century. There are several side chapels, including the one dedicated to the Archangel Michael, patron saint of the city; these chapels are embellished with polychrome marble altars, mostly from the 1700s, and the work of the Neapolitan Francesco Cimafonte. In the presbytery there is an important wooden choir from 1561 and a large organ.
It collects finds that can be dated in a chronological span that includes the 8th century BC up to the 13th century AD.
Biblioteca Capitolare Finia
The Library is one of the oldest libraries in Puglia, its book heritage has over 11,000 volumes. It was founded in 1686 by Cardinal Vincenzo Maria Orsini. The patrimony was enlarged also thanks to Pope Benedict XIII. The most conspicuous donation is due to Cardinal Francesco Antonio Finy, hence the name of the library.
From here you can admire the panorama of part of the historic center but above all the Gravina (canyon) and the bridge. Also, it is very impressive at night with the artistic lighting on the rocks.
The museum collection consists of works of sacred art dating from between the 11th and 20th centuries, arranged in three rooms according to their typology. In the "Sala dei Paramenti" you can admire masterpieces embroidered with Baroque motifs alternating with Renaissance and classical decorations. The "Sala degli argenti" contains chalices and reliquaries from the 15th to the 18th century, including the effigy of St. Filippo Neri. Finally, the picture gallery and parchments room is a treasure trove of precious ancient documents, including the 1091 parchment of Umfrido d'Altavilla, Count of Gravina. Among the paintings, the 17th-century canvas "Sant'Ignazio di Antiochia e Santa Bibiana" by Francesco Fracanzano.