Troia

Troia, a town and episcopal see of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Foggia, situated 1440 ft. above sea-level, 7 m. N.W. of the station of Giardinetto-Troia, which is 16 m. S. W. of Foggia. Pop. (1901), 6674. Troia occupies the site of the ancient Aecae, 12 m. S. of Luceria, on the Via Traiana, a town which fell to Hannibal after the victory of Cannae, but was won back by the Romans in 214. Under the empire it appears to have become a colony. Troia was itself founded in 1017 by the Greek prefect Basilius Bugianus. The cathedral dates from 1107, but the upper part of the façade with its curious sculptures, fine rosewindow and polychromatic decoration, the choir apse and the interior were restored early in the 13th century. The latter has been somewhat spoilt by recent decorations. The bronze doors, partly in relief and partly in niello, of 1119 and 1127 respectively, were cast in Beneventum by Oderisius Berardus. The small domed church of S. Basilio has an ambo of 1158.