An Armchair Traveller's History Of Apulia Part 15

Short Chronology.

708 BC Spartans arrive at Taranto.

c.400 BC Archytas governor of Taranto 281 BC Pyrrhus's first victory 272 BC Taranto falls to Romans 244 BC Brindisi becomes Roman colony.

216 BC Victory of Hannibal at Cannae 65 BC Birth of Horace at Venosa 49 BC Seige of Brindisi by Julius Caesar.

552 AD Goths defeated by Byzantium near Taranto c.590 Lombards from Benevento occupy Daunia 84771 Saracen Emirate of Bari 975 Bari becomes seat of Catapan 1016 Norman pilgrims meet Melo at Monte Sant'Angelo 1056 Pope Nicholas 11 recognises Robert Guiscard Duke of Apulia, Calabria and Sicily 1071 Bari, Byzantine capital, falls to Normans 1087 Bones of St Nicholas brought from Myra to Bari 1130 Roger II founds Kingdom of Sicily 1194 Emperor Henry VI of Hohenstaufen makes himself king of Sicily 1199 Frederick II of Hohenstaufen becomes king of Sicily 1231 Const.i.tutions of Melfi 1250 Death of Frederick II 1266 Defeat and death of Manfred at Benevento 134382 Reign of Giovanna I almost every city on the coast becomes a feudal fief 1480 Capture of Otranto by Turks 1503 French defeated by Spaniards at Cerignola Disfida di Barletta 1528 Apulia invaded by French army under Lautrec 1656 Plague 1714 Austrian rule over Apulia recognised at Peace of Rastadt 1734 Austrians defeated by Spaniards under Charles of Bourbon at Bitonto 1799 Foundation of Parthenopean (Neapolitan) Republic and campaign of Sanfedisti 1801 French garrisons admitted to Apulian ports 180615 French occupation 1815 Restoration of Borboni 1860 Garibaldi overthrows Borbone regime, Unification of Italy 18615 Brigands' War 1865 Tavoliere opened up to cultivation; new era of latifondismo 1906 Work begins on construction of Apulian Aqueduct 1920 Workers rising in Bari 1939 Completion of Aqueduct 19405 Second World War 1943 In September King Victor Emanuel III establishes seat of government at Brindisi Rulers of Apulia from Norman Times The Hautevilles 104246 William, Count of Apulia 104651 Drogo, Count of Apulia 105157 Humphrey, Count of Apulia 105785 Robert Guiscard, Count and Duke of Apulia 10851111 Roger Borsa, Duke of Apulia 111127 William, Duke of Apulia 112730 Roger, the Great Count of Sicily 113054 Roger II, King of Sicily 115466 William I 'The Bad' King of Sicily 116689 William II 'The Good' King of Sicily 118994 Tancred, King of Sicily 1194 William III Tancred had been illegitimate and the Emperor Henry VI claimed the throne as husband of the rightful heir Constance, daughter of Roger II, deposing and murdering Tancred's son, the infant William III.

The Hohenstaufen 104246 William, Count of Apulia 119497 Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor 11971250 Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor 125054 Conrad IV, Holy Roman Emperor 125466 Manfred, King of Sicily The Pope offered the Kingdom of Sicily to Charles of Anjou (bro-ther of Louis IX of France) who defeated and killed Manfred, taking his throne. In 1282 the Sicilians rose against him in the Sicilian Vespers, choosing as their king Pedro III of Aragon who had married Manfred's daughter. There were two kingdoms of Sicily that on the mainland (including Apulia) ruled from Naples and that on the island ruled from Palermo.

The Angevin Kings 126685 Charles I 'Charles of Anjou'

12851309 Charles II 'The Lame'

130943 Robert 'The Wise'

134381 Giovanna 1138166 Charles III of Durazzo 13861414 Ladislao 141435 Giovanna II 143542 Rene of Anjou In 1442 Alfonso King of Aragon and Sicily conquered Naples from Rene of Anjou (father-in-law of Henry VI of England) and styled himself 'King of the Two Sicilies'. He left Naples to his b.a.s.t.a.r.d son Ferrante, his descendants ruling it until the Spanish conquest in the sixteenth century.

The Aragonese Kings 144258 Alfonso I 'The Magnaminous'

145894 Ferdinand I 'Ferrante'

149495 Alfonso II 149596 Ferdinand II 'Ferrantino'

14961501 Federigo In 1501 Federigo was deposed by his cousin King Ferdinand of Spain and for over 200 years the kingdom was governed by Spanish viceroys. In 1713 it pa.s.sed to the Emperor Charles VI, being governed by Austrian viceroys. In 1738 Charles of Bourbon (technically Charles VII but generally called Charles III) drove out the Austrians, re-established the Two Sicilies as an independent monarchy and founded the 'Borbone' dynasty. On becoming King of Spain he abdicated in favour of his third son, Ferdinand IV, who in 1816 become known as Ferdinand I to mark the administrative reunion of the Two Sicilies.

The Borbone Kings 173459 Charles III 175999 Ferdinand IV 1799 The Parthenopean Republic 17991806 Ferdinand IV 18068 Joseph Napoleon (Bonaparte) 180815 Joachim Napoleon (Murat) 181525 Ferdinand IV and I (from 1816) 182530 Francis I 183059 Ferdinand II 'Bomba'

185960 Francis II 'Franceschiello'

Since 1860 the kingdom of the Two Sicilies has been part of united Italy (although the Holy See recognised its exiled kings until 1902).

Historical Gazetteer.

Alberobello.

One of the most visited towns in Apulia, it is unique in that the old centre is comprised entirely of trulli. The trullo church of Sant'Antonio was built in the twentieth century.

Altamura.

In 1999 over 3000 footprints of five types of dinosaur were discovered in the area, the largest collection in Europe. The area was widely inhabited since Neolithic times but the discovery in 1993 of Altamura Man, the only complete fossilised skeleton from the Middle Lower Paleolithic era (200,000 BC), suggests its occupation by man started much earlier. (There is a conducted tour to this and the Pulo di Altamura an impressive karst sink-hole north of the city). The city was one of the most important Peucetian settlements from at least the fifth century BC, surrounded by 6 metre high walls which ran for 4 kms. With the advent of the Via Traiana and the decline of the Via Appia it lost its importance. Destroyed by the Saracens who came from Metaponto up the Bradano valley it remained uninhabited until 1230 when Frederick II founded the modern town on the site of the old acropolis. The previous inhabitants had fled to the gravine as they were to do again and there are several rupestrian churches with traces of frescoes. The cathedral, one of the four palatine basilicas of Puglia, was founded by Frederick II in 1232 but considerably altered after the earthquake of 1316; the late fourteenth century portal with its bas relief of the Annunciation is particularly fine, as is the rose window from the thirteeth century.

Andria Frederick II's most loved city although now, with a population of 100,000, one of the largest in Apulia is still an attractive town and a good base from which to explore the cathedral cities of Trani, Barletta, Giovinazzo and Bisceglie. It is also the nearest town to the unmissable Castel del Monte.

The first inhabitants of the area lived in the grottoes but in the Iron Age they built round houses very similar to the trulli, many of which have been discovered between Andria and Castel del Monte Apulo from 1000 BC. it became a Peucetian settlement from the seventh century and then the Greek Netium. The inhabitants of Cannae fled here after the battle and destruction of their village in 216 BC. Under the Romans the town became a station on the Via Traiana. In 44 AD, on their way to Rome, St Peter and St Andrew evangelised the city which became a See in about 492. Basilian monks, fleeing from the iconoclast Byzantine emperors, settled in the surrounding grottoes and created their churches Santa Croce still has frescoes. From 1064, under the Normans, the town was walled and fortified. The Emperor Frederick II regarded it as one of his most loyal cities and two of his wives had mausolea, destroyed by Charles of Anjou, in the cathedral crypt, the former seventh century Church of San Pietro. The cathedral also contains relics of San Riccardo and a thorn from Christ's crown of thorns. Under the Angevines it became a duchy and was given in fee to Charles II's daughter Beatrice on her marriage to Bertrando Del Balzo. Given to Gonsalvo de Cordoba in 1507 by the Spanish King Ferdinand the Catholic, in 1552 it was sold by his nephew to the Carafa family to whom it belonged until 1806. Fabrizio Carafa built the basilica of Santa Maria dei Miracoli just outside the city. Andria was the birthplace of the famous eighteenth century castrato Farinelli, but he does not seem to have performed publicly in his native city after he was castrated on the suggestion of his brother and sent to Naples to study singing.

Bari.

Bari is now a thriving town and a very interesting place to visit for a couple of days. In the new town the Petruzzelli Theatre has been restored and is staging world cla.s.s operas and nearby Via Sparano and the streets off it are full of internationally renowned shops. But the real reason to go to the city is to visit Old Bari, a tangle of very narrow streets opening out into squares containing the wonderful Romanesque Cathedral of San Sabino, the Basilica di San Nicola and the castle built by Fredrick II.

Barletta.

Inhabited from at least the fourth century BC it was the port for Canosa in Roman times. The Lombard invasion in the sixth century AD caused the inhabitants of Canosa to seek refuge in Barletta, as did the Norman Robert Guiscard's sack of Cannae. The Normans built the church of San Sepolcro in front of which stands the statue of Eraclio/Are. The church has been heavily restored after falling out of use in the nineteenth century. Following the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land, the Archbishop of Nazareth took refuge in Barletta and the diocesan offices moved permanently there in 1327. Under the Anjou dynasty the city enjoyed its most prosperous period; the Romanesque cathedral was extended to the east in Gothic style by Pierre d'Angicourt, who also built the cathedral at Lucera and restored the castle at Canosa. But in 1456 an earthquake caused extensive damage. The Aragonese rebuilt the Norman castle to withstand Turkish bombardment but it was badly damaged by the Austrians in the First World War; it has been re-stored and is one of the most impressive in Puglia. From the baroque period very few palazzi of note have survived, one of which the Palazzo della Marra now houses the Pinecoteca De Nittis. An interesting modern monument is the Ossario Commemorativo dei Caduti Slavi memorial and ossuary for the Yugoslavian partisans who, wounded in the Balkans during the war and brought across the Adriatic to hospitals in Puglia, died of their wounds.

Bisceglie.

Judging by the evidence of numerous dolmens in the hinterland of the city, the area was inhabited from early times; but it is first mentioned in 1042 when it fell to the Norman Robert Guiscard who gave it in fee to Pietro, Count of Trani. The latter fortified the town in 1060 and encouraged the inhabitants of the surrounding villages to move to Bisceglie. It was greatly enlarged by Frederick II who built the first castle, and became a prosperous city under the Angevines. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it belonged to the Del Balzo but then pa.s.sed to the Spanish Crown which in 1512 raised the present walls. The Spanish expelled the Jewish community and all heretics from the city they were allowed to visit it on business for 3 days but staying any longer resulted in forfeiture of goods and corporal punishment. The Cathedral, founded by the Normans in 1073, like so many, was considerably altered in the eighteenth century. Bisceglie welcomed the Napoleonic troops but the French were kicked out by a Russian fleet who returned the city to the Bourbons.

Bitonto An important city in pre-Roman times when it became a Municipium on the Via Traiana. Sacked by the Catapan Zaccaria in 975, from the eleventh century it gradually recovered and its prosperity (derived from the olive oil which the Venetians considered the best in Italy) is shown by the splendid thirteenth century Romanesque cathedral, one of the finest in Apulia. From 1507 (amongst several other cities) it was the fief of Gonzalo de Cordoba, The Great Captain. In 1551 the city bought its independence at the cost of 86,000 ducats.

Bovino Bovino was the Roman Vibinum, an Osco-Samnite city where Hannibal established himself in 217 BC before the battle of Cannae. A fortified centre in the early Middle Ages, it was part of the Duchy of Benevento. The castle (in which one can now stay) was built by the Normans, who reorganised the Byzantine cathedral, which was then altered again in the fourteenth century. During the Brigand's War Bovino was occupied by Carmine Donatello Crocco. Now, according to a large sign on the road from the valley, it is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Italy.

Brindisi Settled by the Messapians in the Bronze Age, Brindisi traded with the Mycenaeans. It became a Greek city, then in 244 BC a Roman colony and naval base, connected with Rome by the Via Appia and the Via Traiana. In the early Middle Ages it belonged to Goths, Byzantines and Lombards, the latter holding it from the seventh to the tenth centuries when it reverted to Byzantine rule. During this period it was destroyed by the Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig II, in 868, and sacked by the Saracens. In 1071 it became part of the Norman Princ.i.p.ality of Taranto and, until the death of Frederick II Hohenstaufen (who built the Swabian castle), was the principle point of departure for crusades and pilgrimages to the Holy Land. In 1456 it was destroyed by an earthquake, but was rebuilt by Ferdinand I. From 1496-1509 it was ruled by Venice, but was reconquered by Spain and began a long decline. Then it came under Austrian rule and finally to the Bourbons who cleared the harbour and brought new prosperity to the city. The main sites of historical interest in the city are the Roman column at the end of the Via Appia, the mosaic floor in the cathedral and the Templar church of San Giovanni al Sepolcro. Outside the city is one of the few Gothic churches in Apulia, Santa Maria del Casale. Built by Phillip of Anjou, it has notable frescoes from the fourteenth century.

Canosa di Puglia One of the oldest uninterruptedly inhabited cities in Italy. The site was occupied by the Dauni since 6000 BC and the city itself was founded by Greeks. An ally of Rome at the Battle of Cannae it became first a colony of veterans and subsequently an important municipium on the Via Traiana with temples, baths and an amphitheatre. Canosa has suffered extensive damage from earthquakes over the centuries and from bombing during the Second World War but the seventh century crypt of the Cathedral of San Sabino which contained the saint and first bishop's remains escaped, as did the mausoleum of Bohemond and the pulpit built by Acceptus. Other important sites include the Roman/Medieval bridge over which ran the Via Triaina, the Daunian Hypogeum of Lagrasta and the Basilica of San Leucio a pagan temple dedicated to Minerva, transformed into a Christian church.

Casarano A hamlet founded in Roman times. Ninth century incursions by the Saracens forced the inhabitants to flee to a low hill to the north. This new settlement became the town of Casarano and in the thirteenth century, after the defeat of Manfred, was given to the Tomacelli and the Filomarino families, supporters of the Angevines. In the original settlement Santa Maria della Croce (or Casaranello) is one of the most beautiful early churches in Apulia with mosaics dating from the fifth century and frescoes from the eleventh.

Cerignola The area around present day Cerignola was inhabited since at least the Bronze Age and reached the height of its prosperity in the fourth century BC. It was destroyed by Alexander I of Epirus during the Greco-Roman War but recovered, and in Roman Imperial times, being on the Via Traiana and the centre of the wheat growing Tavoliere, it thrived; the Piano delle Fosse on the edge of the town has the only remaining ancient pits for grain storage in Apulia. After the usual incursions of Goths, Lombards and Saracens it slowly regained its prosperity, although described in the thirteenth century as "a walled city with a moated fortress and few inhabitants". In the following century it was destroyed in the war between Giovanna I and Louis I of Hungary. Under the Aragonese it prospered but went through a bad period with the Spanish and continued to do so until the devastating earthquake of 1731 which destroyed most of the city. The thirteenth century Chiesa Matrice and former cathedral survived and has an interesting roof with six hexagonal cupulas. The town was rebuilt at the end of the eighteenth century and increased in size enormously during the nineteenth. .The Teatro Mercadante dates from this period, as does the new cathedral the home for half the year of the Byzantine icon of the Madonna di Ripalta (the other six months being spent at the Santuario della Madonna di Ripalta to the south of the city near the River Ofanto. This was built on the site of a temple dedicated to the Roman G.o.ddess Bona Dea). Cerignola is one of the few Apulian cities to be built on the exact site of the Roman municipium and it is sad that very little remains of the old city, but it is now one of the main agricultural centres in Apulia, famous for its olives.

Conversano Founded by the Iapigi in the eighth century BC and surrounded by walls, Norba had a large sixth century necropolis in which many tombs have been found with Greek vases. In 268 BC it came under Rome and was an important city on the junction of the Via Appia and the Via Minucia Traiana, trading with the indigenous population of the interior and the Greeks on the coast. It was destroyed by the Visigoth Alaric in 411 AD but was quickly re-populated during the Byzantine and Lombard eras but with a new name Casale Cupersanem. Geoffrey of Hauteville created the county of Cupersani which stretched from Bari to Lecce and in 1054 built the Norman Castle which has undergone considerable modification, particularly in the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries (It now contains the 10 paintings by Finoglio of Ta.s.so's Gerusalemme Liberata). Robert Curthose, son of William the Conqueror, stayed here on his way back from the First Crusade and married Sibilla of Conversano. The Romanesque Cathedral suffered greatly from a fire in 1911 but the thirteenth century faade is still beautiful. Outside the town are the early thirteenth century church of Santa Caterina and the church of Santi Cosma and Damiano.

Copertino A paleochristian crypt under the castle chapel is the earliest evi-dence of a settlement. Copertino was a hamlet when the inhabit-ants of neighbouring villages destroyed by the Saracens in the ninth century fled to the area. Under the Byzantines it increased in size but was not walled until after the death of Frederick II who had built a fortified tower here. This was incorporated into the Ange-vin castle which in turn was rebuilt in 1540 to form what is now one of the largest in Apulia. A county under the Enghiens, in the fourteenth century it was given to Caterina, daughter of Mary of Enghien, Countess of Lecce and Copertino, on her marriage to Tristan Chiaromonte. Tristan's daughter Isabella, heiress to the Brienne claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, who was born in the castle, married the Aragonese King Ferdinand I of Naples. It was given in fee to the Castriota Granai but after the disappearence of the last male Castriota, Antonio, it pa.s.sed to the Viceregent of Spain. At the end of the sixteenth century the city flourished and many palaces were built, for the first time outside the walls. On the edge of the town is the Santuario della Grotella, built in 1577 over a rupestrian church, where San Giuseppe da Copertino flew on numerous occasions. The fresco of the Madonna over the main altar was cut from the Byzantine church. Another rupestrian church is the Cripta di S.Michele Arcangelo which lies outside the town.

Fasano When the ruins of Egnathia Horace's last stop on the Via Appia were abandoned after the fall of the Roman Empire of the West the inhabitants sought refuge in the grottoes inland from the coast, forming rupestrian villages with churches such as Cripta di San Lorenzo and Cripta di San Procopio. After the country was no longer hara.s.sed by Saracen raids the inhabitants built the town of Fasano which, from the fourteenth century, belonged to the Knights of Malta whose crest is on several buildings including what is now the Palazzo Communale. An interesting church outside the town is the ninth century Tempio Seppannibale, a small church with a dome whose design is thought to have been influenced by Saracen architecture.

Foggia Owing to the fertility of the soil of the Tavoliere, from 6000 BC the area round Foggia was the largest neolithic village in Europe, the centre of primitive western agriculture. By 2000 BC the site had become the one of the largest and most prosperous Iapigian cities Arpi, 8 km from modern Foggia. Under Roman rule and because of its distance from both the Via Appia and later the Via Traiana it became a backwater and the land uncultivated, swampy and malarial. It was not until the arrival of Robert Guiscard that the building, in a very limited way, of the present city of Foggia was begun. William the Good began to restore the land and to accelerate the building of Foggia, including the cathedral which houses the Byzantine Icona Vetere. The cathedral was altered in the baroque period and again after the earthquake of 1731. Frederick II loved Foggia and in 1223 built a large palace in what is now the Via Arpi. This was almost completely demolished by Papal troops after his death in 1250 but a small portion of it now houses the Museo Civico and there are several interesting palazzi on the site such as the sixteenth century Palazzo de Vita de Luca, which survived the devastating earthquake of 1731, and the eighteenth century Palazzo Del Vento. Frederick also built another palace outside the city, the Palacium dell' Incoronata, near the modern Santuario della Madonna dell' Incoronata.

Other survivors of the earthquake are the fifteenth century Palazzo della Dogana, the customs' house for the sheep arriving from the Abruzzi, and the baroque Chiesa delle Croci (aka the Calvario) built on the spot where the tratturi from Aquila and Celano met at Foggia.

Francavilla Fontana The area has been inhabited since the Middle Neolithic era and expanded in the Messapic period although it was only a group of farms around Oria until Philip of Anjou founded it round the site of the fountain. Philip gave it in fee to the Antoglietta who built the walls. Subsequent feudatories were Giovanni Antonio Orsini Del Balzo who strengthened the walls and built the castle as a barracks and the Imperiali who built the Palazzo Imperiali. The Parish church (Chiesa Matrice) was built on the site of an Angevine predecessor after the earthquake of 1743. Amongst the finest palaces is the early eighteenth century Palazzo Giannuzzi Carissimo.

Galatina The origins of Galatina are rather vague but it was probably a Messapian and then a Greek city. It is certain that in 1178 it was known as San Pietro in Galatina (the name it retained until 1861) because St Peter was supposed to have visited it on his way from Antioch to Rome. Outside the town are several basilian crypts of which Santa Maria della Grotta has the most interesting frescoes. Raimondello Orsini del Balzo began the construction of the Basilica di Santa Caterina d'Alessandria in 1369 as a votive offering for his safe return with a relic of St Catherine from a pilgrimage to Mount Sinai. His family lost Galatina to Giovanni Castriota Skanderbeg for services rendered to the Aragonese King of Naples, Ferrante. The Castriota built the walls with five gates (three of which still remain Porta Nuova, Porta Luce and Porta Cappuccini) and a castle, which no longer exists. From the Castriota the city pa.s.sed by marriage to the Sanseverino and then in 1615, in payment of a debt, to the Genoese bankers Spinola. From this period the city expanded considerably with many fine palaces and churches, among them the Baroque church of Santi Pietro e Paolo, rebuilt from 1633 on a previous Greek-rite edifice, the octagonal Chiesa delle Anime Sante del Purgatorio with an unusually plain exterior but a very exuberant interior and Chiesa di Santa Maria della Grazia, the last resting place of Maria Castriota, her sister-in-law Adriana Acquaviva and Nicol Berardino Sanseverino. Galatina's calm and prosperous existence was shattered in April 1903 when, during a peasants' revolt against the latifondisti, the police were called to quell the disturbance leaving two dead and thirty wounded.

Gallipoli The site of Gallipoli was probably the port for the Messapian Alezio. When Alezio was destroyed Gallipoli was enlarged and became a city with an easily defended site and, as in other ports such as Bisceglie, very narrow streets which did not allow an invader room to fight. It became part of Magna Graecia with territory stretching as far as Porto Cesareo. Gallipoli fought with Taranto and Pyrrhus against Rome but was defeated and became a Roman colony and municipium. Sacked by the Vandals and the Goths it was rebuilt by the Byzantines and enjoyed a period of prosperity. Then came the Normans and later the Angevines, against whom the citizens revolted. When Charles of Anjou besieged the city the inhabitants fled to Alezio, returning only in 1300 when the city was walled. The Spanish rebuilt the walls and the castle and founded the Baroque cathedral on the site of a Byzantine church. Gallipoli flourished under the Borbone and became the most important port trading in lamp oil in the Mediterranean.

Gioia del Colle The actual site of Gioia del Colle grew up round a Byzantine castle and was enlarged by the Normans, only to be destroyed by William the Bad. On his return from the Crusades in 1230 Frederick II rebuilt the city and the castle, part of which he used as a hunting lodge, the greater part being used as a barracks for the soldiers guarding the fertile countryside. Bianca Lancia, Frederick's mistress by whom he had three children, was incarcerated here on suspicion of treason. The Angevines completed the castle which under the owners.h.i.+p of the Aquaviva d'Aragona lost its fortifications. In the twentieth century it became the property of the Marchese di Noci who organised its restoration and gave it to the Town Council. It now houses the Archeological museum and is used for exhibitions. About 5 km from the town lies the most important of all the Peucetian settlements Monte Sanacce. Inhabited from prehistoric times it flourished from the sixth till the fourth centuries BC . It was surrounded by five rows of walls and in the fifth century the streets were built on a Greek plan. Corinthian and Attic vases of the seventh and sixth century have been found in the tombs, as well as local wares. When the Romans conquered Apulia Monte Sanacce was abandoned.

Giovinazzo The Roman Natolium was built on the ruins of the Peucetian Netium destroyed during the Punic Wars. Until the arrival of the Normans it was no more than a small fis.h.i.+ng port but later became a commercial centre trading with the Venetian ports of Dalmatia. The cathedral, dedicated to Santa Maria a.s.sunta (twelfth to thirteenth century), has a baroque interior over the original crypt. The port is one of the prettiest in Puglia and is a popular background for wedding photographs.

Giurdignano The human presence in the area of Giurdignano dates to as early as the Bronze Age, as testified by the presence of twenty-five menhirs and dolmens. Later it was conquered by the Romans (archaeological findings include a second to third century AD necropolis). In the ninth century Basilian monks built the rupestrian Cripta di S.Salvatore which has frescoes dating from the twelfth century. 251 Gravina in Puglia Thanks to its stragegic position the story of Gravina has an extremely ancient history; the territory was inhabited continuously from at least the seventh century BC, as is seen in the settlement of Botromagno, and, in the Dark Ages, the paleochristian churches of San Paolo and Santo Stefano e Santo Staso. It came under the influence of Taranto and was then occupied by Rome and became a staging post on the Via Appia but was destroyed by the Vandal Genseric. The citizens took refuge in the gravina and later built their city on the opposite side of the ravine. The cathedral was begun in 1092 by the Normans but destroyed by fires and earthquakes in the mid-fifteenth century. (Fortunately the most precious relic, an arm of St Thomas a Becket obtained by Bishop Roberto in 1179, has survived). Rebuilt later in the century, it is now closed for restoration. Outside the town is the ruin of Frederick II's castle, a hunting box used for falconery. The most unusual church is the early seventeenth century Madonna delle Grazie whose faade is almost covered by an enormous carved eagle, the crest of the founder Monsignor Giustiniani, in whose memory the eagle was added in 1704.

Grottaglie.

A city on the edge of the Murge, Grottaglie grew up round a rupestrian settlement the Lama Fullonese inhabited by local peasants and fugitives from Gothic raids who, in the seventh century had built the church of Saints Peter and Paul (later called St Peter of the Jews). These were joined by a group of Jews fleeing from the Saracen sack of Oria. In the fifteenth century Grottaglie was fortified and given the castle and Parish Church. The most important sights in the city are the monastery of San Francesco di Paola and the Chiesa del Carmine with a wonderful Nativity by Stefano di Putignano. In the seventeenth century it suffered under the Spanish but the ceramics industry, which is now famous, was started under their rule.

Lecce Undoubtedly the most beautiful city in Apulia, which saw its architectural zenith in the seventeenth century when many of the monasteries, churches and palaces were built. Founded by Messapians who successfully repelled all advances from Taranto it became the Roman Lupiae. During the reign of Hadrian the centre was moved three kilometres to the northeast and took the name Litium. The Via Traiana was extended to Lecce and its port at present day San Cataldo became the busiest in the Salento after Brindisi while Lecce itself, by now with a theatre and amphitheatre, became the most important town. During the Dark Ages it was sacked by Totila but recovered for the Byzantines in 549 but did not flourish until the Norman Conquest in the eleventh century. The Normans built the Chiesa dei Santi Niccol e Cataldo which, although considerably altered in the Baroque period, still retains its original portal. From the end of the fifteenth century during the reign of Ferrante d'Aragona it had commercial dealings with Florence, Venice, Genoa, Greece and Albania becoming one of the richest and most cultured cities of the Italian peninsula. Owing to Turkish incursions new walls and a castle were built under Charles V. From 1630 under Spanish rule a building frenzy created numerous religious inst.i.tutions and palaces. However in 1656 the plague killed thousands of the inhabitants, only being brought to a halt by the intercession of Sant' Oronzo who, from this time, became the city's patron saint. The most outstanding ecclesiastical buildings are Santa Croce and the adjacent Palazzo dei Celestini, the Cathedral, Sant'Irene dei Teatini, Basilica di San Giovanni Battista al Rosario, Chiesa del Carmine, Chiesa di San Matteo and the Cloister of the Dominicans. Other interesting edifices are the gates of the city Porta Napoli, Porta Rudiae and Porta San Biagio and the towers the moated Belloluogo Tower where Maria d'Enghien spent the last years of her life and in which is a tiny chapel with frescoes of the life of Mary Magdalene, and the Torre del Parco where Maria D'Enghien's son, Giovanni Antonio Orsini del Balzo, kept his bears. The latter is now an hotel.

Lucera According to Strabo Lucera was founded by Diomede King of Etolia who after the fall of Troy fled to Apulia and established himself and his followers nearby. In 314 BC it became an autonomous Roman colony. The amphitheatre was built in honour of Octavian who visited it on several occasions to watch fights between gladiators and wild beasts. During the first century AD one of the first Christian communities in Europe was founded, with St Peter, on his way to Rome, baptising them in the River Vulgano. The first bishop, Ba.s.so, was martyred under Trajan in 118. The Byzantine emperor Constans II sacked the Lombard city in 663 but in 743 the Lombards returned and rebuilt the cathedral. The Emperor Frederick II built the castle which was much enlarged by Charles I of Anjou. After the destruction of the city by Charles II of Anjou in 1300 he rebuilt it and renamed it "Civita Sancte Marie". The demolished mosque became the Cathedral of the a.s.sumption. Robert of Anjou re-populated it with colonists from Provence and the Pope sent the Croatian bishop Agostino Kazotic to convert the area. In 1323 the bishop was mortally wounded by a Muslim.

Manduria.

An important Messapian city which fended off various attacks from Taranto thanks to the three defensive walls encircling the city. The Spartan king Archidamus III lost his life beneath these walls in 338 BC. Manduria sided with Hannibal and for this thou-sands of its citizens were sold into slavery when the Romans took the city. After its destruction by the Saracens it remained uninhabited until it was re-founded in the thirteenth century but occupied only a small portion of the Messapian site. During the Middle Ages Manduria had an important Jewish community living in the Ghetto. Having been owned by various families it ended up in 1719 in the possession of the Imperiali di Francavilla, who held it until 1799, and built the fine Palazzo Imperiali. In the northeast of the city lies the Archeological Park of the Messapian Walls where the largest Messapian necropolis ever found has been excavated amounting to about 2500 tombs, as well as segments of the three defensive walls surrounding the ancient city. In the same area are Pliny's Fountain and the church of San Pietro Mandurino the latter founded in the eighth century by adapting a Messapian chamber tomb.

Manfredonia Siponto was a Daunian settlement then a flouris.h.i.+ng Greek port which, having been defeated by first the Samnites and then in 335 BC by Alexander I, King of Epirus, became in 189 BC a Roman colony. It was a bishop's See as early as 465 and probably had been converted to Christianity following St Peter's sojourn in Apulia on his way to Rome. The Byzantine Emperor Constans destroyed it in the process of returning the region to the Empire. It was occupied by the Saracens for several years in the ninth century. An earthquake and possibly a tsunami destroyed it in 1255 and Manfred established his new city of Manfredonia two kilometres away from the malarial swamps which had formed round the old site. Siponto is now a holiday resort but the Romanesque churches of Santa Maria Maggiore, whose Byzantine icon of the Virgin is now in the cathedral of Manfredonia, and San Leonardo are well worth visiting. In Manfredonia itself the Angevins rebuilt the castle and built the cathedral. During the fourteenth century the port became the most important in the Capitanata but by the fifteenth century the fortifications had to be strengthened owing to the Turkish threat. These were of no avail as in 1620 the Ottoman Ali Pasha with fifty-six galleys attacked Manfredonia and destroyed the medieval city. The only buildings that remained were the church of St Mark, the castle and the walls. The cathedral was rebuilt from 1624.

Martina Franca Founded by fugitives from Taranto escaping the Saracens it was recognised as a city in the fourteenth century. Martina Franca has a very attractive old part filled with baroque palaces and churches; the town hall with murals by Carella (at the moment being restored) is well worth seeing, as is the Church of San Martino with its simple Nativity by Stefano di Putignano.

Ma.s.safra.

The most northern of Messapian centres, it came under Greece and then it is thought was given to North African fugitives fleeing from the Vandals. They sought help from the archbishop of Taranto, who gave them land between the two ravines where they lived in the grottoes. The first doc.u.mentary evidence is from the tenth century when the Lombards appointed a local administrator.

Under the Normans it was given to Robert Guiscard's nephew Richard the Seneshal, who restored the castle. The Angevins took back Ma.s.safra from Oddone di Soliac in 1296 and joined it with the Princ.i.p.ality of Taranto. In the fifteenth century it became a free city and a centre for horse breeding. Later it again became a fief and was given to the Pappacoda family from Naples then to the Imperiali who owned it from 1661 until 1778 and planted olives, vines and fruit trees on their land, modernised the castle and built the clock tower. Apart from the castle and the Convento di San Benedetto there is little of note in the upper town the ravines are the reason to visit Ma.s.safra. The churches which still have frescoes are Chiesa di Santa Lucia; Chiesa della Candelora; Chiesa della Madonna della Buona Nuova (part of the Chiesa della Santa Maria della Scala); Chiesa di Sant' Antonio Abate; Chiesa di San Simine in Pantaleo; Chiesa di San Simeone a Famosa and Chiesa della Santa Marina.

Matera (now in Basilicata) Like all the cities which grew up round ravines Matera was inhabited in the Neolithic era. The city itself probably has Greek origins, settled by the inhabitants of Metaponto fleeing from Hannibal. It suffered the usual depredations from Goths, Lombards and Saracens and was sacked by the troops of Emperor Louis II while they were trying to exterminate the latter. At the beginning of the eighth century it saw the emigration of basilian monks from the Eastern Empire who established themselves in the caves of the ravines and carved out churches in the Sa.s.si. From 1043, with the arrival of the Normans, the city enjoyed a long period of stability during which Frederick II founded the cathedral which was completed in 1270. As well as the rupestrian churches, two others are worthy of note the Chiesa del Purgatorio and the Convento di Sant'Agostino. The most important churches of the Sa.s.si are Santa Lucia alle Malve, Convicinio di Sant' Antonio, Santa Maria di Idris, Madonna delle Virt, San Pietro Barisano and Santa Maria della Valle. Further afield the Cripta del Peccato Originale has Lombard frescoes.

Melfi (now in Basilicata) The first record of Melfi comes in the eleventh century when Basil Boiannes was catapan but the site was occupied in at least the Bronze Age. With the Roman conquest of the area it seems the inhabitants were sent to the new colony of Venusia. Its period of greatness came with the Normans who made it their headquarters in the conquest of Puglia. Robert Guiscard married Sichelgaita of Salerno in Melfi. In 1059 Pope Nicholas II at the First Council of Melfi made Robert Duke of Puglia and Calabria and a va.s.sal of the Holy See. Frederick II spent a great deal of time in Melfi owing to the good hunting in the area. His Const.i.tutions were set out here and in 1241 he imprisoned two cardinals and numerous French and German bishops who had attended a Council called by the Pope with the object of deposing him. The Angevines greatly enlarged the castle to control the surrounding population who were supporters of the Hohenstaufen and loathed the French.

In 1531 the Aragonese King Carlos V who was short of money after the Thirty Years' War removed the Caracciolo family from the Princ.i.p.ality of Melfi and sold Melfi to the Genoese Andria Doria for 25,000 ducats. It then went into steady decline, not helped by earthquakes the last in 1930 destroying much of the city and, after the Unification of Italy, the presence of brigands including the notorious Carmine Donatello Crocco. The castle now houses the archeological museum, and the Cathedral and the eighteenth century Bishop's Palace have been restored. The walls which in Norman times were four kilometres in circ.u.mference have mostly been destroyed by earthquakes but small stretches remain as well as the Venosa Gate. Outside the city are two rupestrian churches with frescoes Santa Margherita and Santa Lucia; the former is particularly interesting as one of the frescoes shows Frederick II holding a hawk with his wife, Isabella of England, and his son Corrado on his right, and on his left three skeletons. An interesting church historically is the Chiesa di Santa Maria ad Nives which was built in 1570 by the Albanian Giorgino Lapazzaia. It still retains the arbresh rite which is basically Greek Orthodox and serves a community who speak a dialect of Albanian going back to the sixteenth century. Melfi is a pleasant place with lovely views of Monte Vulture.

Monopoli The area immediately around has been inhabited for the last 80,000 years but the city itself was founded by the Messapians in about 500 BC. They walled the city and built a fortress. In the Roman era the port was used primarily for military purposes. After Gothic and Saracen raids the people of Egnathia fled to Monopoli which was then taken by the Byzantines. In 1041 the inhabitants called in the Normans and resisted all efforts by the Byzantine general George Maniaces to retake it; in retribution he laid waste to all the surrounding territory. The medieval city was laid out by the Normans on the peninsula between the two natural harbours. It was during their rule that the famous icon of the Madonna della Madia (now in the cathedral) is alleged to have arrived on a raft with a consignment of wooden beams required for the roof of the new church. This church had been superimposed on an earlier one, which in its turn had been erected on the site of a pagan temple. In 1742 it was decided to enlarge the building, which had been already altered in the sixteenth century, and the present cathedral was built a fine example of late eighteenth century Baroque. In a room up a flight of stairs from the vestry is a fascinating collection of ex-voto paintings. There are several rupestrian churches in and around the city including the crypt of Chiesa di Santa Maria Amalfitana, Madonna del Soccorso and San Leonardo. During the long minority of Frederick II the barons in Puglia rebelled but Monopoli remained loyal to the emperor. The walls were damaged but re-stored and strengthened by Frederick when he was older, thanks to which the city was never attacked by the Turks. They also withstood a three month siege by the Spaniard Alfonso d'Avalos during the struggle for Puglia between the Venetians and the Spanish in 1529. After the armistice Monopoli belonged to Charles V. The castle, superimposed on the Messapian walls and the Roman gate to the port, was built in the sixteenth century under the hated Spanish rule. The city went into a decline from this period and in July 1647 during a popular rising the governor was lynched, followed by reprisals by troops stationed at Bari.

Monte Sant' Angelo Under the Lombards the city grew up around the Sanctuary of St Michael (still a place of pilgrimage), and was enlarged by the Normans who founded the Chiesa di Santa Maria Maggiore, and the Tomba di Rotari in reality a baptistery. Charles of Anjou erected the building now housing the sanctuary and the elegant campanile over the grotto. The castle was built by Orso, bishop of Benevento in the ninth century but he could not prevent the sack of the city by the Saracens in 871. Normans, Hohenstaufen, Angevins and the Aragonese enlarged and strengthened it to withstand contemporary warfare.

Mottola.

Although it was inhabited in the Bronze Age and remains of Greek walls have been discovered round the centre there is no doc.u.mentary evidence for its existence until the beginning of the eleventh century when the catapan Basil Boioannes founded a castle here against the incursions of the Saracens. Under the Normans who attempted to stamp out the Greek rite, rupestrian churches were made in the ravines of Petruscio and Casalrotto by followers of the rite. These include San Nicola, Sant'Angelo, San Gregorio and Santa Margherita, all with frescoes those of San Nicola some of the best in Apulia. During the Second World War Polish soldiers hid from the Germans in the Villagio ipogeo di Petruscio, an amazing settlement of underground dwellings and churches dating from early times. In 1653 the fee of Mottola was sold to Francesco Caracciolo VII, Duke of Martina Franca, who retained it until the end of feudalism in 1806.

Nard One of the most attractive and largest cities in the Salento, it is near the Ionian coast with the interesting series of watchtowers (six of which are in the parish) built by Charles V to defend Puglia from the Muslim pirates of North Africa and the Balkans. A Messapian settlement from the tenth century, it was frequently at war with Taranto but joined them in the fight with Pyrrhus against Rome and was severely punished by the victorious Romans after the Social Wars. Under Augustus, the city, which had been abandoned for decades, was reinstated as Neritum; new roads were built to link it with the Via Appia and it flourished until the arrival of the Goths. Taken by the Byzantines and Lombards it became a haven in the ninth century for basilian monks who built the Abbazia di Santa Maria di Nerito, now the very much altered cathedral of Santa Maria a.s.sunta. After the city was conquered by the Normans in 1058 the abbey was handed to the Benedictines. Nard was loyal to Frederick II in his battle with the Papacy, and to Manfred after his father's death. The papal troops took the city but Manfred recaptured it with a force of Saracen mercenaries and returned it to his loyal va.s.sal, Tommaso Gentile. It was then at-tacked by cities loyal to the Pope Brindisi, Mesagne and Otranto whereupon Manfred besieged and destroyed Brindisi. Nard was once again given back to Tommaso Gentile in 1255 but he died the following year, to be succeeded by his son. The next feudatory was Luigi Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno, who governed well and created a renowned School of Studies, but he rebelled against Giovanna II and was deposed in favour of the Del Balzo Orsini. On the death of Giovanni Antonio in 1463 Nard returned to the Crown but, after the Ottoman attacks in 1480 at Taranto, Otranto and Nard, in 1497 the Aragonese King Federico I sold the city to the Acquaviva Counts of Conversano for 11,000 ducats. The new owners built the fine Baroque palaces, including the beautiful Palazzo del Tribunale, and the Guglia in the Piazza Salandra and it remained in the family until the end of feudalism in 1806.

Ostuni The site was inhabited since the Stone Age, became a town under the Messapians and was destroyed by Hannibal. Re-built by the Greeks it suffered the usual depredations of Goths and Saracens before being once more rebuilt under the Byzantines who made it a diocese. From 1294 to 1463 it was part of the Princ.i.p.ality of Taranto and from 1507 pa.s.sed first to Isabella Sforza, d.u.c.h.ess of Bari and then to her daughter Bona. In 1639 it was sold by the Spanish King Phillip IV to the merchant family of Zevallos who taxed the inhabitants harshly and caused a decline in the population. Known as the White City on account of its whitewashed houses (to which it owed its immunity from the plagues of the seventeenth century) it revived under the Bourbons and expanded onto the neighbouring hills. The main sights of the old town are the fifteenth century Cathedral, the Bishop's palace, the Guglia di Sant'Oronzo, Chiesa di San Vito Martire, and in the newer town the Chiesa dell'Annunziata, but there are also numerous palazzi in the old town making it one of the most attractive in Apulia. Outside the town is the church of Santa Maria la Nova, built in 1561 above a rupestrian church with traces of frescoes.

Otranto.

Otranto was a town of Tarentine Greek origin which became a Roman municipium and an important port of embarkation for the east. The Via Traiana was extended to the city after the temprorary demise of Brindisi. It remained part of the Byzantine empire during which the Church of San Pietro was built until it was among the last cities of Apulia to surrender to Robert Guiscard at the end of 1070. The cathedral was founded in 1080 and finished in the twelfth century, when the marvellous mosaic floor was laid. In the Middle Ages there was a large population of Jews who had a school there but these were expelled by the Aragonese. Otranto was occupied from 12th August 1480 until 18th September 1481 by the Turks. After it was recovered by Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, the walls were strengthened and the castle rebuilt but it still suffered from attacks by Venetians and Turks, including being briefly taken by the notorious corsair Barbarossa. Today Otranto is a popular place for day trippers but in the evening or early morning it is one of the most fascinating and attractive cities in the Salento.

Poggiardo/Vaste The history of Poggiardo is that of most of the Salento south of Otranto. Vaste was an important Messapian settlement from the seventh century BC, subsequently destroyed by Goths and Saracens, and finally by William the Bad who in 1147 razed it to the ground. The inhabitants moved to neighbouring Poggiardo which, from a small village, began to expand at the end of the fourteenth century after it had sided with Charles of Anjou against Manfred. A century later it became part of the Princ.i.p.ality of Taranto and was defended with walls and a castle. After the destruction of nearby Castro by the Turks it became the seat of the bishop. The fifteenth bishop's palace was sold to the Guarini after a rising against the bishop in 1756 and was subsequently a prison and a tobacco factory. In the Piazza Episcopo is the museum of frescoes from the rupestrian church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. Between Poggiardo and modern Vaste lies the Parco dei Guerrieri di Vaste, an archeological area which includes the Messapian remains of Vaste and the Cripta di Santi Stefani whose frescoes are in a bad state of repair, the church having been used as a tobacco drying barn within living memory.

Putignano An ancient Peucetian settlement it became a Roman municipium. In the early eleventh century the land belonged to the Benedictine monks of Monopoli and their labourers gathered to form a village on the old site. In the thirteenth century Frederick II built a fortified hunting lodge just outside the walls but because he had been excommunicated by the Pope on the advice of the monks, Putignano denied him access. In a rage he demolished the castle and partially destroyed the town walls. In 1317 the Pope gave Putignano to the Knights of Malta. Because of the increasing danger of Turkish raids the Byzantine icon and relics of St Stephen were brought from Monopoli and housed in a new church. The Putignano Carnival which is still held every year dates from the arrival of the icon. The walls were rebuilt in the fifteenth century by the Bali Carafa who also greatly enlarged the original church of San Pietro. Napoleon's troops removed most of the church bells in Putignano and stole many church treasures.

Ruvo di Puglia A flouris.h.i.+ng Peucetian centre from the ninth century BC trading with Greece in ceramics, wine and oil, between the fifth and third centuries BC it was colonised by Greeks from Arcadia. By the fourth century BC its territory included modern Molfetta, Corato, Trani, Terlizzi and Bisceglie. A large collection of Apulian and Attic pottery from the extensive necropolis is in the Museo Jatta. A Roman municipium on the Via Traiana, with the rise of Molfetta, Trani and Bisceglie, it had lost a lot of its territory by the fifth century when it was sacked by the Goths and totally destroyed. The new city was surrounded by high walls with four gates and in the centre a tall tower, now the campanile of the wonderful Romanesque cathedral. During the reign of Roger II of Sicily the city rebelled and, having withstood a lengthy siege, was betrayed by one of the citizens and partially destroyed. It bounced back in the twelfth century, when the cathedral was founded, and flourished again. The walls were strengthened under the Angevins who built the castle on the site of Frederick II's fortress but were destroyed once more in 1350, this time by Ruggiero Sanseverino. In 1503 the Duc de Namours billeted his men in Ruvo and sent out the thirteen Frenchmen who took part in the Disfida di Barletta. From 1510 Ruvo belonged to the Carafa family and during their rule and the arrival of the Dominican monks the city became enriched with churches, palaces and monasteries. When Napoleon's troops arrived in 1799 the people of Ruvo flew the tricolore from the clock tower and planted a Tree of Liberty which was swiftly cut down when a rumour that the British Navy was about to bombard any city which had planted the tree they seem to have had a strange idea of the fire power of the navy at the time, Ruvo being about twelve kilometres from the the coast. Ettore Carafa and Giovanni Jatta, although on opposing sides, managed to make Ruvo avoid the worst excesses of this violent period and after the Unification of Italy Ruvo once again flourished as a centre for olive oil and wine.

San Giovanni Rotondo.

Most people who come to this town do so to visit the tomb of Padre Pio but it is worthwhile wandering round the old part with its gateways, churches and sixteenth and seventeenth century palaces. Such is the fervour of devotion to Padre Pio that another new church had to be built to accommodate the thousands of pilgrims who visit the city. This is next to the one over his tomb, was consecrated in 2004 and is capable of holding more than 7000 people; it is one of the largest and most modern in Italy and was founded almost entirely by contributions from the pilgrims.

San Vito dei Normanni The area was inhabited since at least the Bronze Age but the modern settlement dates from the tenth century AD when it was founded by a colony of Slavs from Croatia. Bohemond d'Hauteville built the fortress as a hunting lodge; it is now the Comune where one can obtain the key to the rupestrian Church of San Biagio with its wonderful Byzantine frescoes. The town pa.s.sed from the Hautevilles to the Sambiase then to Raimondo del Balzo Orsini. The church of the Madonna della Vittoria was built to commemorate the partic.i.p.ation of many of the inhabitants at the Battle of Lepanto. Like many Apulian cities it was greatly increased in size under Mussolini and again in the late twentieth century making it difficult to reach the old part and making parking a nightmare.

Taranto One of the most important centres in Magna Graecia, traditionally founded in 706 BC. The archeological museum has amongst other things stunning gold jewellery found in tombs in the surrounding area. Also of note are the Cathedral and the Old Town, the Fortezza di Laclos and the Castello Aragonese built originally by the Byzantines for protection against the Saracens and Venetians and greatly altered by Ferdinando II d'Aragona in 1486. It is one of the most polluted cities in Puglia, however, and not a place to linger, nor is there much to see in the way of Greek remains a couple of columns from a temple here, a grave there and the rupestrian Cripta del Redentore with good frescoes dating from the twelfth century is now closed for restoration.

Trani.

Of all the coastal cities in the Terra di Bari Trani is probably the most attractive place to stay; the old part is less shabby than that of Bisceglie or Molfetta, the port beautiful and there is more to see than at Barletta. The origins of Trani really only date from the the ninth century AD when the seat of the episcopal See was transfered from Canosa to Trani after Canosa was sacked by the Saracens in 813. The fis.h.i.+ng port expanded and became important during the Crusades and the cathedral dedicated to St Nicolas the Pilgrim was founded in 1097. The bronze doors made by Barisa.n.u.s of Trani in 1175 are outstanding. From the same period dates the Templars' Chiesa di Ognissanti. Frederick II had the greatest influence on Trani's prosperity, building the walls and castle and granting privileges to Jews and Florentines who traded with the East. There are still two synagogues the Scolanova restored to the Jewish rite and that which became the Church of St Anna but is now a museum. The city declined during the Aragonese period with the expulsion of the Jews but recovered under the Bourbons and now the Jews have returned and form one of the largest communities in Italy.

Troia An attractive city on the top of a hill in the predominately agricultural area south west of Foggia. According to legend founded by Diomede in the twelfth century BC. The earliest archeological evidence points to a much later date but it was a Daunian centre and taken by Hannibal after the battle of Cannae. The present city began to be built round a fortress, after the town had been besieged and sacked by the Saracens, in 1019. The Romanesque cathedral with two rose-windows and outstanding bronze doors by Odisirio da Benevento was built by the Normans in the twelfth century using material from the Byzantine church and the Roman city. Pope Urban II held the first Council of Troia in 1093 followed by three more the last in 1127. Owing to its allegiance to the papacy, it was besieged by the Hohenstaufen emperors Henry II and Frederick II. The city sided with the Angevines, the Aragons and then the Bourbons.

Vieste.

Vieste was inhabited from paleolithic times later becoming a Greek colony and a Roman munic.i.p.ality. During the Middle Ages, be-cause of its strategic position on the tip of the Gargano, it was fought over by the Byzantines, Normans, Lombards, Venetians and Arabs. The castle was built by Frederick II in 1240 and later strengthened with bastions and ramparts but was seriously damaged in 1648 by an earthquake. It was attacked by the Turks in 1480, 1554, 1674 and 1678. During the Risorgimento many died in violent clashes between supporters of the Bourbons and supporters of the Unification. Now it is a popular sea-side resort with a lovely beach.

Venosa (now in Basilicata).

A Roman colony and birthplace of Horace it has evidence of its origins in the stones used to build the Church of the Santissima Trinita, many of which come from the Roman city around it. This church built by the Normans and consecrated in 1059 was later given to the Benedictines who began to enlarge it on a vast scale, but had only reached the arches, when they were banished by Pope Boniface VIII in 1297. The Order of Malta to whom it was given established themselves in the city and the building was never finished hence its modern name of La Chiesa Incompiuta (The unfinished church). Next to the church is the Archeological Park with remains of the second century AD Roman amphitheatre, a fine mosaic pavement and Roman and medieval buildings. There are two medieval fountains from the Middle Ages The Fontana Angioina erected by Charles of Anjou in 1298 and the Fontana di Messer Oto erected in honour of Roger of Anjou. Pirro del Balzo's castle in the centre of Venosa was converted from a fortress into an elegant residence by the composer Gesualdo and is now the Archeological Museum. Below the city the Jewish and Christian catacombs lie side by side and date from the fourth to sixth centuries.

end.