The Basilica of St. Nicholas in the heart of the old city of Bari is one of the most significant examples of architecture of the Romanesque Puglia.

It was built in Romanesque style between 1087 and 1100 during Norman domination. The building of the basilica is linked to the relics of St. Nicholas, translated by sixty-two Baris sailors from the city of Myra, in Licia, and arrived in Bari on May 9, 1087.

St. Nicholas of Myra, who for centuries rests in the Basilica of the same name, is one of the most honored saints among Orthodox Christians, especially among those belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church.

The basilica is one of the few places frequented by faithful belonging to different Christian confessions. After the end of the totalitarian regimes and the consequent opening up of Eastern European countries to tourism and relations with the outside world, it was one of the privileged links of tourism linked to religious pilgrimages.