Barletta
Barletta | |
---|---|
Comune di Barletta | |
UTC+2 (CEST) | |
Postal code | 76121 |
Dialing code | 0883 |
Patron saint | St. Roger of Cannae, SS. Madonna dello Sterpeto |
Saint day | December 30 |
Website | Official website |
Barletta (Italian pronunciation:
The city's territory belongs to the Valle dell'Ofanto. The Ofanto river crosses the countryside and forms the border between the territory of Barletta and that of Margherita di Savoia. The mouth of the river is in the territory of Barletta.
The area of Barletta also includes part of the battlefield of Cannae. This is a very important archeological site, remembered for the major battle in 216 BCE between the Romans and the Carthaginians, won by Hannibal. The site has been recognised as Città d'Arte (city of art) of Apulia in the 2005 for the beautiful architecture. Cannae flourished in the Roman period and then after a series of debilitating Saracen attacks, was finally destroyed by the Normans and then abandoned in the early Middle Ages.
Barletta is home to the
In 1503 Barletta was the location of the
The city at the time was fairly loosely besieged by French forces, and occupied by a Spanish army under the command of Gonzalo de Cordoba the 'Gran Capitan'.
Barletta has one gold medal for military valour and another one for civil valour, for its resistance to an incursion of German Fallschirmjäger who destroyed the port in order to prevent its falling intact into the hands of the advancing British Eighth Army during World War II.
Geography
Barletta is located on the
Barletta is situated on the south-west end of the Gulf of
Its climate is moderated by the sea. Winds are usually from the south. Rainfall is low; Barletta receives 500 millimetres (19.7 in) of rain annually, with most of the rain in autumn and winter during which day-long deluges occur. Rain is minimal between the second half of June and the first half of August.
The
The city is endowed with a very long, sandy coast stretching to both the east and the west from the commercial port. Along the coast, there are various attractive beaches with trees to the west.
History
Barletta developed long before the Roman era, known by Greeks and Romans respectively as Bardulos or Barulum. [4]
In the Middle Ages it was a stronghold of the
After immigration from the nearby Canne increased its population due to the destruction of Cannae by the
At the beginning of the 16th century, during the guerilla war between the French and the Spanish over possession of Southern Italy, the city was the theater of a historical victory of Italian knights over French prisoners, in what became known as the
The city was the capital of its district and the seat of the lower prefecture for the 120 years between 1806 and 1927 and sided with the French under Joachim Murat during the Napoleonic War.
During and after the
During
During World War II, the city was the site of the first episode of Italian conflict with German troops, when a battalion of Fallschirmjäger (parachutists) was sent from Foggia to Barletta to destroy the port before the British 8th Army could arrive, the Italian garrison surrendered after a brief struggle, thereby earning the Gold Medal of Military Valour and of Civilian Merit.
After the war it was the site of a
Main sights
The principal monuments of the city are:
- The Castle, a structure initially erected in the 10th century by the Normans as a typical motte and bailey structure. During the Crusade period, it was a used as a hostel for soldiers leaving for the Holy Land. It was upgraded and enlarged substantially under the reign of Frederick II between 1225 and 1228. This corresponds to the period in which he launched a crusade from here, the Sixth Crusade. The castle was later expanded under the House of Anjou, when Barletta became an important centre of Aragonese-Spanish control in the area, in 1527. Charles had the building expanded again and the four massive bastions added to create the present fortress form. In 1915 the fortress, then in use as a barracks and military store, was bombarded by the Austro-Hungarian scout cruiser SMS Helgoland. In September 1943 it was the setting of an Italian military defence unit against a German army.
- Colossus of Barletta: a large bronze statue of a Roman Emperor.
- Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre (Basilica of San Sepolcro): adjacent to Colossus, this church was built in the 12th century and the former headquarters outside the city walls of the Knights of Malta, it stood next to a hospital for pilgrims (now demolished) to the Holy Land during the medieval period, a Romanesque church with particular Oriental influences from Jerusalem. The façade represents the Baroque style.
- Cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore: erected on the former site of the temple of Neptune, is an example of the fusion of Gothic and Roman styles. In its interior, at a lower level, are grotticella tombs from the 3rd century BC, over which is the Palaeo-Christian basilica (6th century AD) with another basilica being added to that in the 9th century. In the 12th century a new building was erected in Romanesque style, being consecrated in 1267; this was renovated in the Gothic style in the 14th century
- San Giacomo: 11th-century church named after St James the Great ('Matamoros' or Saracen-slayer), was erected on the site of what had been the temple of Isis in Roman times. Toppled by the earthquake that nearly razed Barletta, it was soon rebuilt and re-consecrated in 1751.
- The Cellar of the Challenge, a former prison for galley slaves.
- Palace of the Marra: Baroque palace outside Salento, now housing the Pinacoteca Giuseppe De Nittis.
- Canne della Battaglia: archeologic site, location of the Battle of Cannae.
Government
Economy
Barletta is a city whose economy is based on the manufacture of concrete and cement. To a lesser degree, it is also a city of agriculture, of which grapes and olives form the most widespread crops.
Transportation
By car, Barletta is reachable from the A14 motorway (exiting at Andria-Barletta or Canosa) or the SS16 highway or from the airport of Bari-Palese, located about 55 kilometres (34 mi) from Barletta.
Other than Barletta's commercial port, there are no sea connections, though Bari and other cities have ferry services across the Adriatic.
Twin towns – sister cities
Barletta is twinned with:
- Herceg Novi, Montenegro[9]
Notable people
- Roger of Cannae (1060–1121), saint, bishop of Cannae and patroon of Barletta
- Gabriel Barletta (15th century), Dominican preacher
- Ettore Fieramosca (1476–1515), head of the Italian knights participating in the famous Joust of Barletta in 1503.
- Mariano Santo (1488–1577), surgeon
- Giovan Leonardo Primavera (c. 1540–85), composer and poet
- Carlo Cafiero (1846–92), anarchist and supporter of Mikhail Bakunin who ripped him off.
- Giuseppe De Nittis (1846–84), impressionist painter
- Mario Gallo (1878–1945) influential director in the Cinema of Argentina
- Carlo Maria Giulini (1914–2005), orchestra director
- Francesco Monterisi (1934– ), cardinal
- Pietro Mennea (1952–2013), for 17 years was the world-record holder in the 200 m sprint and won the gold medal at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.
- Gennaro Delvecchio (1978– ), national footballer for Italy
- Francesco Lotoro (1964-), composer and Holocaust music archivist.
See also
References
- ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ "Challenge of Barletta". Disfida di Barletta Sito Ufficiale. Archived from the original on 2010-12-29.
- ISBN 1-4191-7384-7
- ^ Snowden F. M. (1991) "Cholera in Barletta 1910", Past and Present, 67-103.
- ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nembo-class_destroyer
- ^ "DP Camps in Italy A-R". dpcamps.org. Archived from the original on 2016-04-18. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
- ^ Photos of the DP camp, 1947-48, in the Archives of the Ghetto Fighters' House
- ^ "Sito del Comune - Gemellaggi ed opportunità". comune.barletta.bt.it. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
External links
- Official website
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). 1911. .
- barlettaweb.com – Barletta city web site