Top of the World
A few kilometres from Bari, in the countryside of Valenzano, there is the beautiful Church of All Saints. Simple and humble, surrounded by olive trees, this characteristic sacred building is one of the few examples of Apulian Romanesque architecture. It is a marvellous church, despite its small size (18.45 x 12.65 metres). It belongs to the category of buildings with domes in axis, whose best examples in Apulia are S. Benedetto in Conversano, S. Corrado in Molfetta and S. Francesco in Trani. A synthesis of Apulian Romanesque and Byzantine reminiscences, the church of All Saints is a small masterpiece of its kind. Already looking at the main façade one realizes to be in front of a monument of the XI century. Both the band that runs along the central door and the ornamentation of the rose windows is characterized by a row of balls with rosary grains, which recalls, for example, the portal of S. Marco dei Veneziani in Bari. Always on the façade you can admire the remains of the portico with three arches (only the one on the right is intact, covered by a barrel vault). The walls of limestone are squared and polished, but in their sobriety do not present any decoration, apart from the bands that flank the external windows. The rear part, like every church of the Byzantine era, consists of three apses. The central one is much larger (in width, height and depth) than the two lateral ones. The canopy is also characteristic, especially when seen from a certain distance. In correspondence with the domes and the slopes of the naves, three square-based pyramids rise externally. They are made of lamellae or chiancarelle arranged in steps. Entering the sacred building you can not help but feel the charm of spirituality that emanate those domes that follow one another and intertwine, as well as the vaults rampant of the aisles. All these particularities make the church of Ognissanti worthy to be visited and admired.
