Influenze orientali e occidentali nello sviluppo degli organismi chiesastici a cupole in asse in Puglia. La terra di Bari (X-XII secolo)

For the importance of its Capital city in the 11th century, “La terra di Bari” was one of the apulian areas in which both oriental and western cultures got connected. On the architectural level, this led to the creation of a style that had no comparisons through the history of the medieval art. Specifically, the so called “a cupole in asse” churches are the result of the aforementioned contamination. Indeed, their spatiality was marked by the use of spherical domes on pendentives to cover the nave and half beams vault on the aisles: a rational and simple system that worked in symbiosis to support the central aisle, anticipating Gothic architecture. Furthermore, the presence of the half beams vault allowed an organic and unitary reading of the ecclesiastical space bringing forward some characters of the “Hallenkirche”. The purpose of this paper is to investigate around the hypothesis of a specific contribution made by the rulers – first Byzantines and then Normans – in the genesis and evolution of this type of architecture and how much local traditions was influenced by both external and autochthonous models.