TRANI

According to legend, was founded by Tyrrhenian, the son of Diomedes. Archaeological finds attest to the presence of traces of settlements dating back to Neolithic and Iron and Bronze Age. However, the first historical proofs date back to the third century AD and throughout the Roman Empire Trani was subject to the Roman authority. From the port of Trani the galleys of the Crusaders sailed, two of them armed by Trani citizens, and many pilgrims returning from the Holy Land were accepted in hospitals built by the Templars and Gerosolomitani. 1063 the city issued the Ordinamenta Maris, the oldest maritime code of Middle Ages. Under the rule of Frederick II had many privileges, the most important of which is related to the celebration in town of civil and criminal proceedings. After a crisis under the Anjou, Trani enjoyed a commercial growth with the Aragonese; but under the Spanish House of Bourbon Trani became the most important centre of Southern Italy and took the title of province capital until the Napoleonic age, when Murat gave this status in favour of Bari. In nineteenth century the city reaffirmed its role as the central court of the entire region and even today it houses the District Court, the Court of Assize of first instance, the Magistrate's Court, and moreover the Archbishop’s see, the district Notarial Archive, an Apulian Aqueduct Department and the Registry Office.

The city consists of three parts: the old urban centre surrounded, until 1840-46, by the city walls built by Frederick II Hohenstaufen, the nineteenth-century village and the modern area. The Port of Trani is among the most beautiful of the Adriatic coast, ideal for walking, and equipped for pleasure tourism. Among the city's monuments there are the church of Santa Maria di Colonna, one of the oldest churches in the city; the Castello Svevo (Suevian Castle), chosen by Manfredi, son of Frederick II, to celebrate his wedding with Helen of Epirus. The main monument of Trani is the Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Pilgrim, which houses the relics of the saint in the crypt. The Diocesan Museum occupies the building that was headquarters of the Episcopal Seminary. Among buildings worthy of note is Palazzo Rogadeo, the Palazzo Arcivescovile (Archbishop's Palace), as well Palazzo Caccetta, one of the most interesting works of Renaissance. Finally, among the sacred buildings we mention Chiesa d’Ognissanti (Church of All Saints) and Santa Maria di Scolanova. Trani is the only Apulian city that is part of the national network of "slow city".

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