Taranto Co-cathedral, Gio Ponti's masterpiece, turns 50 years old

Important birthday for Taranto’s Co-Cathedral of the Great Mother of God, one of Gio Ponti ’s (Milan, 1891 - 1979) masterpieces, which celebrates this year the 50th anniversary of its consecration. The church, which is located on the side of a vast square that stands at the intersection of Viale Magna Grecia and Via Dante, near the business center of the Apulian city, was designed between 1964 and 1966, the foundation stone was laid on June 29, 1967, and the work was completed in 1970, with the consecration taking place on December 6 of that year.

The 50th anniversary of the Co-cathedral will be celebrated in the coming days thanks to an agreement signed in June 2019 by the Archdiocese of Taranto, the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the Provinces of Brindisi, Lecce and Taranto, and the Department of Science of Engineering and Architecture of the Politecnico di Bari: the initiative was born as the outcome of a thesis carried out by five young architects from the Bari university who studied the work of Gio Ponti. The main event of the celebrations is the December opening of the exhibition Gio Ponti and the Taranto Co-Cathedral 1970-2020. The Dream of a City, the Dream of its Citizens and the Dream of Guglielmo and Giovanni at the Diocesan Museum of Taranto, promoted by the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, in agreement with the Soprintendenza Archaeological Museum of Taranto.agreement with the Soprintendenza Archivistica e Bibliografica della Puglia, CSAC - Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione of the University of Parma, Gio Ponti Archives, the City of Taranto, the Istituto di Studi Superiori Musicali “G. Paisiello” of Taranto, the Chromophobia Association and Do.Co.Mo.Mo Italy. The exhibition will be open to the public as soon as anti-Covid containment measures allow.

Other activities for the celebrations also include the October 2020 publication of the book Gio Ponti and the Taranto Co-Cathedral. Letters to Client Guglielmo Motolese (1964-1979), edited by Vittorio De Marco (published by Silvana Editoriale), and the organization of the international conference Gio Ponti and the Taranto Co-Cathedral 1970-2020. Protagonists, Liturgy, Protection and Enhancement (scheduled for spring 2021) sponsored by the CEI’s National Office for Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage and Buildings of Worship, several national and international universities, and the Professional Orders of the Province of Taranto. The City of Taranto has also signed an agreement with the city’s Archdiocese to restore the basins in front of the Co-cathedral, with the aim of recovering the original idea of Gio Ponti, who envisioned his work as a ship with unfurled sails reflected in the waters of the MarIonian Sea. The municipality will also confer honorary citizenship post mortem to Gio Ponti, thus fulfilling a wish of the great architect.

Pictured: the Co-Cathedral of the Great Mother of God. Ph. Credit Alessio Lojk

Taranto Co-cathedral, Gio Ponti's masterpiece, turns 50 years old

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