The church in Matera was dedicated to the two saints Peter and Paul (Santi PIETRO e PAOLO), also known as the "prince of the apostles". Their common feast day in the calendar of saints is June 29th.
* Simon, nicknamed Peter (Rock), was a fisherman on Lake Genesareth when he was called by Jesus Christ to be a "fisher of men" together with his brother Andrew. According to Catholic understanding, he is the highest apostle, and the two thousand year long line of popes - currently Fraunziscus - are his successors. In statues and paintings, Peter is almost always depicted with two keys in his hand; this attribute refers to the Bible verse in Matthew: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Chapter 16, Verse 19).
* Paul was initially an opponent of the Christian movement and was not called to the apostleship of Jesus Christ during his lifetime like the other apostles, but was only converted later with the famous "Damascus experience". His attribute is the sword with which he was executed. According to the Roman law of the time, such a sentence was a "privilege" (quick death and not, like other types of execution, associated with a long, painful death struggle) that was available to the citizens of Rome.