BARLETTA

The city has been founded in pre-Christian age, during the Roman era it developed as port of Canosa, who needed a way out to the sea for its trade. The first expansion of Barletta was in the sixth century, when it housed the inhabitants of Canosa, which escaped the destruction of their city by the Lombards. After the year 1000 it were characterized by commercial and population growth, mainly due to the destruction of Bari, which occurred in 1056 and for being port of call for pilgrims and crusaders to and from the Holy Land. 1503, during the war between the French and the Spanish, the city was the theatre of the Disfida di Barletta (challenge of Barletta). During World War II, Barletta was the site of the first episode of Italian resistance against the Nazi troops, thereby earning the Gold Medal of Civil Merit in 1998 and of Military Valour in 2003.

Valuable the De Nittis Art Gallery, located within the magnificent Palazzo Della Marra, who also hosts interesting exhibitions regularly. Not less important the Norman-Suevian Castle, which is the largest military castle in the South of Italy that houses the sculptured bust of Frederick II, that is considered the only in the world. Very important “Eraclio” the Colossus of Barletta, a large bronze statue and the nearby Basilica of San Sepolcro, built in the 12th century; then the Cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore, a fusion of Gothic and Roman styles, built on the ruins of the early Christian basilica. Worthy of note is the archaeological site of Canne della Battaglia, the location of the famous battle between the Roman army and Hannibal’s troops and in 216 BC.

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