BISCEGLIE

Human settlements are attested in the territory since Palaeolithic and during the Bronze Age, pointed by discoveries in the caves of the area and by the presence of megalithic tombs called “dolmens”. During the imperial age small villages, called “Casali” (hamlets), were born on the territory, where people coming from everywhere settled. They were sacked several times by the Saracens and at the beginning of the tenth century people rushed into the safest large city walls. In 1060 the little village was equipped with reinforced walls and towers. Diocese was established and the civil and ecclesiastical power met in the hands of the Bishop, who lived in the Episcopate, also civic home. It was a flourishing period of trade expansion, characterized by contacts with the Maritime Republics: Bisceglie sailors entered into agreements, as testifies the Maritime Charter of 1211, a trade agreement with the city of Ragusa Dalmata, which established a mutual lifting of taxes on goods sold and port charges. With the Suevian the castle was built, but it was during the Angevin period that the city obtained many privileges. With the coming of the crown of Aragon, Bisceglie, loyal to the House of Anjou, became one of the most vibrant centres of resistance. When Bourbon ruled Bisceglie and the whole Apulia suffered poverty and neglect.

The city is situated on an inlet of the Adriatic coast and has an equipped fishing port. Particularly sought-after for clean beaches and the crystal sea waters, Bisceglie is also a meeting place of young people, especially for the presence of nightclubs located on the seafront. Among the places of interest we mention the archaeological sites of the Grotta di Santa Croce (Holy cross Cave), which point to the presence of human habitation in Palaeolithic, and the Dolmen, the most important of which is the Dolmen della Chianca. Very important, not only for its artistic beauty, is the Palazzo Tupputi, remembered for the "Dieta delle Puglie" (Diet of Apulia), a meeting of the Apulian Carbonari. Among the most important churches, besides the Cathedral of St. Peter, built in Romanesque style, although the facade has three windows in the Baroque style; the Church of Santa Margherita, an example of burial church; we have then the Church of Sant'Adoeno, the oldest of Bisceglie, dedicated to the protector of the Normans and finally the Diocesan Museum, housed in the old Bishop's Palace.

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