The Church of St. Theresa and the very high dome are of 18th-century workmanship. The interior is a vertical composition of walls and volumes that smell of Mediterranean lime, of a white, transparent oasis. Not even the flowering of the upper stuccoes can alter the light or architectural discipline.

The notes of colour come solely from the wooden inserts and paintings: from the side boxes, for the organ, on the right (now in the Oratory of the Blessed Sacrament), and for the choir loft on the left; from the dark, austere confessionals, which have the right colour of penitence; finally, by the paintings that, from the side chapels, accompany the visitor to the popular limbo of the large canvas in the centre of the apse, preceded by the impressive rise of the dome and its pedestal, which externally take on an urbanistic value, as the centre and orientation of the entire ancient village, as the square and bell tower of St. Peter's must once have been. Peter.

In the first chapel on the right, of the Guardian Angel, is the ancient baptismal font of the parish of St. Peter. Next is the chapel with the 'Supper at Emmaus', the first of five paintings from the church of S. Salvatore: a remarkable example of Mannerism in Apulia, late 16th century, possibly from the workshop of Gaspare Hovic, according to a recent attribution. Also part of the group is the Transfiguration, on the right head of the transept, by Andrea Mignolico, a Neapolitan who was at home in Bari in the early 18th century.

On the side walls, the 'Crucifix with St. Francis' (and a Pope in adoration), attributed to a 17th century Monopoli painter, Vito Antonio Mariani. The canvas opposite, St. Peter and St. Paul, on the other hand, comes from St. Peter's Church and is paired with the 'Martyrdom of St. Peter' where the reference to Guido Reni and his famous St. Peter, lowering head down on the cross, which is in the Pinacoteca Vaticana becomes extremely emotive considering the quality of the copy. In front of this nude of St. Peter, in the left header on the transept, the Ecstasy of St. Teresa becomes even more rarefied, more evaporated than it appears. In the apse, the central painting by Ignazio Montella, 'Madonna and Saints', rests gently like a small desert caravan.

On the sides two other canvases from St. Saviour's, St. Michael and St. Eudocia (right), the 'Trinity and Saints' (left) with St. Gennaro, St. Charles Borromeo on one side, St. Blaise and St. Francis de Sales on the other. One thinks of Solimena and his school, but others see a disciple of Paolo De Matteis and name Giambattista Lama. The wooden busts in the central wall of the apse are two reliquaries in effigy of St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila. The Crucifix of St. Saviour, 15th-16th century, is, however, the most precious 'relic' of this church. As can be seen, the Church of St. Theresa has a large pictorial heritage.

Source:
Giacomo Campanelli, Monopoli tourist guide, Schena publisher.

CREDITS: Comune di Monopoli.