Why pilgrims come
A sacred place worth the journey.
Otranto’s Cathedral of Santa Maria Annunziata preserves the relics of St. Antonio Primaldo and the companions canonized with him—the citizens killed after the Ottoman capture of Otranto in 1480. Their remains are venerated in the Chapel of the Holy Martyrs. The cathedral also preserves the celebrated twelfth-century floor mosaic.
The pilgrim’s guide
What makes this visit meaningful
Pray before the relics of the Otranto martyrs, then read the cathedral’s vast Tree of Life mosaic as a vision of Scripture, judgment, and hope carried through a city marked by violence.
Chapel of the Holy Martyrs
Venerate the relics of St. Antonio Primaldo and his companions in the cathedral that carries Otranto’s living memory of 1480.
Pantaleone’s Tree of Life
Walk slowly over one of Europe’s great medieval mosaic floors, completed in the twelfth century.
Cathedral and city
Notice how Otranto’s sacred, civic, and Mediterranean histories meet within one active church.
Feasts, anniversaries & celebrations
Continue nearby