Taranto is an Italian town of 189 823 inhabitants, the capital of
the province of the same name, in Apulia, located on the
north-western end of the historical-geographical region called
Salento, as well as on the eastern end of the coastal area called
the Tarantino Ionian Arch.
It was founded by the Spartans in
the 8th century BC with the name of Taras. The city, thanks to its
strategic position in the center of the homonymous gulf, to the
fertility of its territory and to trade, became the most important
Polis of Magna Graecia and one of the most important cities in the
ancient world, establishing itself as a thriving cultural, economic
and military center, which gave birth to intellectuals of the
caliber of Archita, Aristosseno, Livio Andronicus, Leonidas and
Eraclide di Taranto as well as to athletes whose deeds became
legendary throughout the Greek world, such as Icco and the so-called
Athlete of Taranto . At the peak of its development, it achieved
hegemony over the other Greek colonies of Southern Italy and was
chosen as the seat of the Italiot league. It was the last Magna
Graecia city to fall following the expansion of Rome, not before
having engaged with it the so-called Pyrrhic Wars, a conflict that
lasted 5 years. Although defeated, it continued to exert a great
cultural influence on the rest of southern Italy and on Rome itself,
becoming part of the collective imagination of the time as a place
characterized by opulence and enormous natural beauty, celebrated by
Horace and numerous other authors.
During the Norman period,
it became the capital of the Principality of Taranto, which during
its 377 years of history came to include almost all of Salento.
Taranto gives its name to the species Lycosa tarantula (wolf
spider), once very common in the local countryside, to which we owe
the terms tarantella and tarantismo, as well as the word tarantula,
used today to indicate the well-known spiders of the Theraphosidae
family.
It is nicknamed the City of the two seas, due to its
peculiar position straddling the Great and Small Seas. In the first,
near the Cheradi Islands, in front of the city, a historical
population of dolphins and other cetaceans lives and thrives; in the
second, mussel farming has been practiced for centuries and on a
large scale, whose products are known worldwide for their
uniqueness.
The city is home to the Maritime Arsenal of the
Navy, Ilva, one of the largest industrial complexes in Europe for
the production of steel, and the MArTA National Archaeological
Museum, which is one of the most important museums in Italy.
The thousand-year history of Taranto has left a vast and little-known testimony of its past in the territory. We can distinguish several places of interest present in its territory which testify to its historical and cultural importance: from the ancient places of worship, including the remains of the Doric Temple, the archaeological remains of the Greco-Roman necropolises and chamber tombs, the Crypt del Redentore, to the palaces belonging to the noble families and illustrious personalities of the city, including Palazzo Pantaleo and Palazzo d'Ayala Valva. The city offers one of the richest and most varied architectural panoramas of the entire peninsula: ranging from the Romanesque-Gothic of the Church of San Domenico Maggiore to the Renaissance-style buildings of the Borgo Umbertino, to the Baroque of the Cathedral of San Cataldo, the churches and palaces elegant buildings of the old city, from the remains of medieval structures (such as the Torre del Gallo in the historic center) to the decidedly more elegant forms of buildings and installations in Art Nouveau and neoclassical style. There are also numerous crypts, monasteries, sanctuaries and votive shrines. Furthermore, a visit to the Umbertine village is also interesting for its wonderful buildings built at the end of the nineteenth century in the Umbertine, Art Nouveau and Rococo styles.
Cathedral Basilica of San Cataldo
The Cathedral of San Cataldo (or
Duomo di San Cataldo) is the oldest cathedral in Puglia, and is located
in the heart of the historic center of Taranto, commonly known as the
Old City. Dedicated to San Cataldo, an Irish bishop who died in Taranto
in the 6th-7th century, whose tomb it houses, it was built in the second
half of the 10th century - during the reconstruction works of the city
commissioned by the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus II Phocas - on the
remains of an early Christian religious building dating back to at least
the 7th century. In the 11th century the Byzantine structure was
remodeled and the current cathedral with a basilica plan was built. In
1713 the baroque façade was added by the Lecce architect Mauro Manieri.
In the 12th century the Norman bell tower was built, damaged by the
earthquake of 1456 and replaced during the restoration works of 1952
with the current one, which takes up the shape of the older one. The
cathedral measures 84 meters long and 24 meters wide, has a central nave
surrounded by columns with capitals all different from each other, two
lateral ones and a single-nave transept. In the area in front of the
Romanesque façade, corresponding to the current pronaos, the tombs of
the most illustrious people of the city were housed. The remains and the
silver statue of the saint are preserved in the Chapel of San Cataldo.
It is one of the highest expressions of Baroque, with works by the
sculptor Giuseppe Sanmartino, frescoes by Paolo De Matteis and
polychrome marble. In the Byzantine Crypt, with a cruciform plan, you
can admire thirteenth and fourteenth century frescoes, bas-reliefs and
sarcophagi. In the crypt there are the tombs of some archbishops of
Taranto.
Church of San Domenico Maggiore (formerly Church of San
Pietro Imperiale)
Located at the northern end of the old city, the
Church of San Domenico Maggiore rests its foundations on the remains of
a Greek temple dating back to the 6th century BC and is part of the
former convent complex of the same name. Built in 1302 on behalf of the
Franco-Provençal nobleman Giovanni Taurisano, it underwent numerous
renovations over the centuries up to the most significant one between
the 17th and 18th centuries. The fourteenth-century features of the
façade are still intact, with the pointed portal surmounted by a hanging
porch and a splendid rose window with lateral hanging columns. The
façade is closed by three-lobed hanging arches placed to crown the
spire. The two-flight staircase through which you enter the church is
from the 18th century. The interior, with a single nave, has four late
sixteenth-century chapels along the left side decorated with Baroque
altars which are balanced, on the right side, by blind arches with
valuable paintings from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Worthy
of note is a painting by Leonardo Antonio Olivieri depicting the Triumph
of the Franciscan Order and The Trinity with the Virgin, the work of the
painter Giuseppe Mastroleo (1740). It is particularly known for guarding
in the Chapel of the Addolorata, the simulacrum of the Virgin of Sorrows
(17th century), carried in procession on Holy Thursday by the
Confraternity of Maria Santissima Addolorata and San Domenico, during
the well-known Rites of the Holy Week of Taranto, secular rites which
they attract faithful and tourists from all over the world every year.
Sanctuary of the Madonna della Salute (or Monteoliveto)
The
Sanctuary of the Madonna della Salute the construction dates back to the
second half of the 17th century, thanks to the work of the Jesuit
Fathers who had established themselves in Taranto as early as 1612 in
the church of the Savior which was located a few steps from the
Cathedral and which today is no longer existing. The façade has two
superimposed orders, both punctuated by pilasters with Ionic and
composite capitals in the upper part, lightened by four niches in the
lower part and two in the upper part. The portal has a broken tympanum
above in which the coat of arms of the Dominican Order is embedded,
while in the upper order of the facade in correspondence with the portal
there is a large window with a polychrome glass window (similar windows
conclude the arms of the transept). The façade is evidently not finished
as the upper crown is missing. Inside, on the tympanums of the four
arches set on large pillars which clearly describe the Greek cross plan,
stands the dome which is approximately 10 meters in diameter and
frescoed with a beautiful starry sky; in the lantern above the dome you
can admire the painting of the dove of the Holy Spirit. In the corbels
immediately under the dome, the four evangelists are frescoed with their
iconographic symbols. Of notable interest is the main altar. The Jesuit
client Father Venanzio Maria Barra commissioned the work in 1571 from
Antonio Di Lucca who collaborated, at least in the design, with Brother
Galichio d'Amato, both Jesuits. Unfortunately the Jesuit Fathers were
not able to enjoy this altar placed on site in 1752 for long, in fact in
1767 they were suppressed and the Olivetans took over who had their coat
of arms placed on the right pillar, leaving the Jesuit coat of arms on
the left one. The Altar is characterized by a notable pictorial effect
both in the frontal and in the steps under the table, while in the upper
part next to the tabernacle there is an inlaid chalice decoration that
alternates with an elegant wave motif. On the altar is the painting to
which the sanctuary is named, the Madonna della Salute, set inside a
bronze relief made in the early 1900s. It is an oil painting on canvas,
a copy of the famous Byzantine icon of the Salus Populi Romani which is
venerated in Rome in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
Church
of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
The church of Maria Santissima del Monte
Carmelo (commonly called the church of Carmine) of Taranto is one of the
churches of the Borgo Umbertino of the city. The exact year of
construction is not known, but the existence of the church has been
attested since 1577, with the name of "Santa Maria della Misericordia".
The same church had previously had other titles: Santa Maria Maddalena
and before that, San Lazarus. The management of the Carmelite fathers,
was later dedicated to the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel. Over the
centuries the church has been remodeled several times, until it took on
its current appearance in neoclassical style. The main façade can be
traced back to a remake in 1937, and is interspersed with six projecting
vertical elements, surmounted by capitals that support the entablature.
Between the central semi-columns there is the rectangular entrance
portal, surmounted in turn by a small circular window, while between the
latter and the lateral pilasters contain two pairs of empty niches
arranged in an overlapping manner. Above the entablature, in line with
the portal, there is a quadrangular aedicule which houses the coat of
arms of Archbishop Ferdinando Bernardi, while in correspondence with the
pilasters two small obelisks stand. Above all is a bell tower
embellished with statues of angels. Inside, the church is a Latin cross
with a single nave, on the sides of which are the chapels and niches
that house the statues used in the procession of the Mysteries, on Good
Friday, in Holy Week in Taranto. Of important importance are the statues
of the Dead Jesus and Our Lady of Sorrows, donated to the
Archconfraternity of Carmine by the Taranto nobleman Don Diego Calò in
the eighteenth century. In the first chapel to the right of the entrance
a column drum is preserved, on which tradition has it that Saint Peter
celebrated the first Eucharist in the city, as attested by an epigraph
commissioned in 1651 by Archbishop Caracciolo and placed on the niche
together with a icon depicting the saint. In the left arm of the
transept there is the painting of the "Maddalena dei Pazzi" created by
Paolo De Matteis.
Great Mother of God Co-Cathedral
The Gran
Madre di Dio Co-Cathedral is located in the modern part of Taranto.
Commissioned by the Archbishop of Taranto, Monsignor Guglielmo Motolese,
it was designed by the Milanese architect Gio Ponti and represents the
architect's most important work together with the Pirelli Tower. Built
between 1967 and 1970, it was inaugurated on 6 December of the same
year. Dedicated to the Great Mother of God, protector of the city
together with Saint Cataldo and the Immaculate Conception, it
represents, in homage to the city's maritime tradition, a "sail" that is
reflected in the water of the three pools in front of the entrance,
symbolizing the sea . The facade is made up of two parts: the front one
is 87 meters long and 35 meters wide, the rear one, 50 meters behind the
first, is made up of a double perforated wall 40 meters high, which
replaces the traditional dome. The Co-Cathedral has recently been the
protagonist of exhibitions dedicated to the architect Gio Ponti in
various museums around the world, including the Musée des Arts
Décoratifs in Paris, the Italian Cultural Institute in Stockholm and the
Maxxi in Rome.
Church of Sant'Agostino
Church of San Michele
Church of Sant'Andrea degli Armeni
Sanctuary
of the Most Holy Crucifix
Church of San Pasquale
Church of San
Giuseppe
Church of Sant'Anna
Church of Santa Maria della Scala
Church of the Santi Medici
Church of Santa Caterina
Church of San
Gaetano
Church of San Francesco da Paola
Church of Santa Maria of
Constantinople
Church of Santa Maria della Giustizia
Church of the
Holy Cross
Church of Santa Teresa
Renaissance Chapel of San
Leonardo (Aragonese Castle)
Church of San Francesco da Paola al Borgo
House of Sant'Egidio Maria da Taranto
Taranto is full of convents and monasteries that house centuries-old
cloisters. Until the mid-nineteenth century, when the Borgo Nuovo was
born, the city was restricted to today's part of the old city: it stood
on a small strip of land covering just over 25 hectares. When Archbishop
Monsignor Brancaccio carried out his pastoral visit in the 16th century
(1576 - 1578), in the four pictaggios of the city there was a truly
remarkable number of churches and chapels: 13 in the Baglio pictaggio, 7
in S. Pietro, 6 in Turripenna and 6 in the Bridge painting. There were
"intra moenia" the monasteries of San Domenico, San Giovanni Battista,
the Franciscans, the Augustinians and the Celestines, "extra menia" the
Reformed ones of S. Antonio, the Paolotti, the Carmelites, the Capuchins
and the Olivetan Benedictines of S. Mary of Justice.
Convent and
cloister of San Domenico Maggiore
The former Convent of San Domenico
Maggiore is a seventeenth-century structure located in the heart of the
old city of Taranto. Built in the 14th century. AD, the structure is
spread over three floors, two above ground and one underground, which
cling around a rather large central courtyard. The structure, made of
masonry with tuff ashlars, allows us to verify all the changes made over
the centuries and to ascertain the presence of various architectural
styles. Inside the cloister of the convent, which was last renovated
between the 17th and 18th centuries and is characterized by a series of
arches supported by columns with corner leaf capitals, there is an
archaeological area of considerable size, in connection with the
archaeological areas of Saturo and Scoglio del Tonno, which presents
traces of occupation of the site dating back to the Neolithic period
starting from the 6th millennium BC and traces of Mycenaean occupation.
Of a later age (10th-8th century BC) are the remains of the Iapigian
settlement, later ousted by the Spartan colony that founded Taras. The
area, inhabited since prehistoric times, also allows us to detect the
foundation structures of a Greek temple built on the acropolis of
ancient Taras in the 6th century. B.C. Furthermore, the Roman footprint
on the site is visible thanks to the remains of the temple cell,
consisting of architrave fragments reused in the Gothic façade of the
convent. Since 1315, the complex was governed by the Dominican fathers
and for this reason it took the title of San Domenico in Soriano or
Maggiore. Unfortunately, the Napoleonic decrees suppressed it in 1801,
it was transformed into a cavalry barracks and abandoned by the
religious. It is currently the seat of the National Superintendence for
the protection of underwater heritage, of the Superintendency of
Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the province of Taranto and of
the Library of the Archaeological Superintendence of Puglia.
Convent and cloister of Santa Chiara and the "wheel of exhibits"
It
was built in 1621 by the will of the doctor Raffaele Pesce who wanted to
give young people belonging to the middle and working class the
possibility of undertaking monastic life, a prerogative until that
moment only of noble families. The former monastery of Santa Chiara in
Taranto preserves within it one of the few examples of a wheel still
intact in Italy. The device was used by many women to abandon their
children by entrusting them to the care of the nuns of the convent.
Today it is the seat of the Juvenile Court.
Convent and cloister
of San Francesco
After the passage of Saint Francis of Assisi on his
return from the Holy Land, the faithful decided to build a church and a
convent in Taranto in honor of the little friar of Italy. It hosted the
first Taranto community of Franciscan friars, the former convent of San
Francesco, one of the largest complexes in the entire historic center of
Taranto, located in the central Via Duomo. Built in the 14th century, it
was originally composed not only of the convent, but also of a small
church, later dedicated to San Lorenzo. The cloister is of fine
workmanship, divided into four porticoed arms with valuable cross
vaults, punctuated by powerful pillars. The convent, renovated in the
mid-17th century, was used for various purposes over the centuries: seat
of the Municipality during the 18th century, it later became the
headquarters of Napoleon's troops, with the name of Barracks Rossarol.
Today it is home to the Faculty of Law of the “Aldo Moro” University.
Convent and cloister of San Michele (or Cappuccinelle)
The
convent, located on Via Duomo, in the ancient village, was built at the
beginning of the 18th century by the will of Giovanni Battista
Protontino, who left his possessions for the construction of a monastic
complex intended for poor orphans. Consolidation works have brought to
light beneath the cloister of San Michele, a water cistern of
considerable capacity, created in the limestone bank which probably, in
the past, could have been used as a public source. Today the building
houses the Conservatory of Music named after the well-known Taranto
opera composer Giovanni Paisiello.
Convent and cloister of the
Alcantarini
At the time of the construction of the convent, the
Alcantarini had to overcome numerous obstacles for its construction,
both on the part of the nearby convent of Sant'Antonio of the Reformed
Friars Minor and the Carmelites of the Carmine convent, and on the part
of the Diocesan Clergy. The creation and construction of the entire
building is due to a non-priest friar, Fra Serafino Carrozzini della
Concezione da Soleto, who, with his charisma, managed to obtain from
Charles III of Bourbon and Queen Maria Amalia of Saxony, in 1747, the
decree for the foundation of the convent, a subsidy of one hundred and
eighty ducats for the Alcantarine brotherhood and the consent of Pope
Benedict XIV. The convent obtained the title of "Royal Convent" from the
Bourbon royals, who also provided with personal donations by giving the
convent a rich dowry (now exhibited in the museum-shrine). In 1748 the
first Alcantarini arrived and, temporarily, stayed near the church of
San Michele in the old city. During this period, however, the friars
took care of the garden of the convent being built and the postulant
Francesco Antonio Pontillo (Sant'Egidio da Taranto) worked as gardener
on the land owned by the Alcantarini. On 2 June of the same year the
first stone was laid and on 18 June 1749 a land of approximately 3200 m²
adjacent to the convent was donated for the expansion of the convent
garden. The construction work on the convent ended in 1761 and the same
year the convent was declared guardianship with Father Serafino of the
Immaculate Conception. The convent and the church subsequently became a
center of study and culture relevant to Salento not only as regards
theology but also for the human sciences, in fact the Alcantarine friars
dedicated to the study created a well-stocked library and an art gallery
which all they exist today. Today the convent houses the National
Archaeological Museum of Taranto - MARTA. The church, however, dedicated
to San Pasquale, is officiated by the Friars Minor who found a place in
a rear convent built in 1800, and is the main sanctuary for the cult of
Sant'Egidio from Taranto.
Convent and cloister of Sant'Antonio da
Padova
The former Convent of Sant'Antonio was built in the years
1444-1447 by will of Giovanni Antonio Orsini, son of Raimondello, Prince
of Taranto, using columns and other architectural elements from the
Roman era. Both the name of the founder and the years in which the
convent was built are documented by three plaques placed at the entrance
to the structure, completed in 1447 when the friars of the Regular
Observance settled there. Of particular interest is the ancient Church,
a jewel of the Apulian Gothic, with the elegant chapels among which the
one dedicated to the Saint of Padua stands out, with a life-size statue
of the Prince, caught in the act of venerating Jesus and, next to it,
Saint 'Anthony of Padua. On the upper floor of the former Convent of
Sant'Antonio, the Prince had two corridors built, only one of which was
enriched with rooms, with wooden ceilings. On the ground floor there
were four porticoes, structured on large columns that supported the
arches and the sequence of bays. The cloister, which came to life from
these elements, was richly frescoed. The single-cusped façade seems to
have been a faithful copy of that of San Pietro Imperiale, with a large
radial rose window adorned with figures. The interior, with a Latin
cross plan, had a single large nave, punctuated by side chapels, and a
wooden ceiling. Many works of art: frescoed walls, paintings and
sculptures, commissioned by Prince Orsini himself, completed the beauty
of the building, together with pre-existing archaeological finds from
the Magna Graecia age. The various uses to which this large religious
building was subjected, particularly in the years in which it was used
as a prison, over time ended up erasing many traces of its past and it
was above all the church that paid the price. The original internal
layout of the former Convent of Sant'Antonio was modified by the
Observant Fathers and the Reformed Fathers who knocked down the walls of
the two dormitories and rooms, creating various cells. The structure is
located in the heart of the Umbertine village of Taranto, near the green
area of Villa Peripato.
Former Archbishop's Seminary
It was
one of the first seminaries to be founded after the Council of Trent: it
was in fact inaugurated on 1 June 1568 and had the historian Giovanni
Giovine as its first rector. The former seminary overlooks the Mar
Grande, with the main entrance in Vico Seminario. Little is known and
has been handed down as evidence of the original conformation of the
building, due to the continuous transformations to which it has been
subjected over the centuries, traces of which can be found among other
things in the presence of the coats of arms of the archbishops Sarria
and Pignatelli, who would have enlarged the building in 1638 and 1685
respectively, or the white marble portal commissioned by Archbishop
Mastrilli around 1770. With the arrival of the French in Taranto in
1801, the seminary was used as accommodation for the troops, while after
the unification of Italy it briefly hosted the "Archita" high school,
returning to its original function in 1889. Closed again during the
First World War, it was definitively abandoned in 1964, following the
inauguration of the new seminary in Poggio Galeso . Since 6 May 2011 it
has been the seat of the diocesan museum. The building has a
quadrangular structure, and its rooms develop around a central cloister.
The facade has a large portal, unusually oriented towards the sea unlike
the surrounding buildings. The windows on the ground floor are
distributed irregularly, probably inherited from the older structure,
while those on the first and second floors are distributed regularly.
Cloister of Santa Teresa al Borgo (and former Old Hospital)
The
oldest nucleus of the complex was founded around 1363 to house the Poor
Clare nuns, dedicating the construction to the Santissima Annunziata.
There are few and contradictory memories of this era, except that in
1480 following the presence of the Turks and the massacre of Otranto
with the devastation of some smaller towns, the Poor Clares abandoned
the convent and took refuge in the ancient city which was well fortified
at the time. Following the expulsion of the Turks, the nuns returned to
the convent and remained there until 1495, the year in which following
the war of succession between the French and the Aragonese, the city of
Taranto was also the scene of looting and among these the Convent of the
Poor Clares . In 1576-1577 the Carmelite fathers arrived in Taranto and
were witnesses in 1593 of the Reform approved by Clement VIII of the
Carmelite Institute wanted by Saint Teresa, a reform which gave its name
to the Teresians, who spread the cult of Saint Teresa in the city, also
contributing to the collection of funds to finance the "reconstruction"
of the Monastery of the Poor Clares destroyed and abandoned in 1495
following the aforementioned looting carried out by the French and
Aragonese in the war of succession. Some documents found in the State
Archives of Taranto highlight that in 1673 the Carmelite/Teresian
Fathers were intent on rebuilding the sacked and ruined convent and were
also preparing to build the church, bordering the east side and with
direct access to the cloister, with the altar located to the south.
After just 8 years, in 1681 the Fathers moved to the renovated Convent
with adjoining Church. At the beginning of the 1600s, the Fathers of St.
John of God, the "Fatebenefratelli" dedicated to alleviating the sick
and the less well-off, were active in Taranto. In 1808, following the
suppression of the Monastic Orders wanted by Napoleon, the convent
complex was transformed into a Civil and Military Hospital. Subsequently
in 1824 the monastic and ecclesial assets, following the restoration of
the Religious Orders, returned under the management of the Church with
the management of the hospital complex entrusted to the Fathers of St.
John of God. Today the structure houses the new Department of Mental
Health.
Monastery of Santa Maria della Giustizia
The monastery
of Santa Maria della Giustizia is one of the most interesting medieval
monuments in Taranto. It rises near the Tara River. The current
structure was built on the site granted in 1119 by Constance of France
and Bohemond II to the hegumen John, abbot of the Greek rite monastery
of San Pietro in Isola, to create a domus for use by the monastery
itself and by pilgrims. The structure was enlarged starting from the
14th century, and was then entrusted to the Olivetans in 1482, who
practiced agriculture and livestock farming there, exploiting the
resources of the river and the nearby Ionian sea. Frescoes from the 16th
and 18th centuries are preserved in the Angevin-style church and in the
monastic environments. Due to its proximity to the sea, it frequently
suffered attacks and looting by the Saracens, who in 1594 set a large
part of the monastery on fire. In 1725 the monks left the monastery to
move to Taranto. In the eighties, the monastery was assigned by the
State Property Office to the Archaeological Superintendence of Puglia
which allowed its recovery. Archaeological excavations conducted later
attested that the area was frequented since the classical era: proof of
this are the numerous tombs found, dug into the rock and reworked,
probably for the construction of a salt pan.
Convent of the
Battendieri
The Battendieri convent is an ancient monastic structure
located near the Mar Piccolo. Starting from the 1630s, the Capuchin
friars had built a convent "in loco veteri Cappuccinorum" in the Galeso
area, but abandoned it due to the watercourse becoming swampy. In 1597,
therefore, they built this new building along the Cervaro river near,
supposedly, a temple dedicated to Diana, Roman variant of Artemis and
goddess of the hunt. The friars were mostly dedicated to fulling wool.
The building, which stands on land donated by the noble Francesco
Marrese, then became a private farm in 1867. About a kilometer away is
the WWF oasis of Palude La Vela.
Porta Napoli Bridge (or Stone Bridge)
The Porta Napoli Bridge (or
Stone Bridge) of Taranto is the stone structure that overlooks the
natural canal to the north-west of the city. 115 meters long and 16
meters wide, with only three arches, it is dedicated to Sant'Egidio of
Taranto (faithful follower of the Franciscan rule). Today's bridge was
built in 1883, after a flood that destroyed the seven-arch bridge built
in the 10th century by order of Nicephorus II Phocas, also using
materials from the previous one. The sea rose about three meters,
entering all the houses of the old city, the rising waters caused the
bridge to collapse and immediately after the flood, a temporary wooden
bridge was built to connect the island to the mainland. The ancient
bridge, to better protect the city from frequent external incursions,
had been fortified in 1404 with the construction on Piazza Grande, now
Piazza Fontana, of a tower and the "Cittadella", a large square keep
surrounded by walls and flanked by two towers.
Ponte San
Francesco Da Paola (or Swing Bridge) and navigable canal
In different
eras, the people in power built ditches in the place of the current
navigable canal to strengthen the defense of what was called "Porta
Lecce". In 1481 Ferdinand I of Aragon, seeing himself threatened by the
Turks, created a canal called 'Fosso', strengthening the defenses of the
city. Philip II subsequently increased the width of the canal and made
it effectively navigable. The passage between the old city and the
southern bank was guaranteed via a mobile wooden structure, or via a
'bridge' that could be dismantled in the event of an attack. Poor
maintenance soon led to the canal being filled with sandy material. For
its reopening, we had to wait until 1755, with the intervention of
Charles II. Ferdinand I of Bourbon further improved the conditions of
the reactivated Canal and had a bridge built in the northern part, this
time in masonry, naming it "Porta Lecce Bridge". After the Unification
of Italy, the study of the Mar Piccolo roadstead began, for the purpose
of building the Arsenal of the Royal Navy. The opportunity to enlarge
the Canal was evaluated, to allow the passage of warships, favoring
their shelter in the natural bend of the Gulf of Taranto. Therefore, in
1885 the old “Porta Lecce Bridge” was demolished. The definitive
improvement of the Navigable Canal was carried out, bringing it to a
length of 400 metres, a width of around 70 and a depth of 12. The
construction of the Swing Bridge was then started, a mechanical
engineering work aimed at allowing and controlling the passage of the
large warships and to unite (or, if necessary, separate) the ancient
village with the new village. Built by Alfredo Cottrau's Italian
industrial metal construction company, based on a design by the
engineer. Messina, was originally made up of a large lowered arch in
wood and metal, divided into two arms that revolved independently of
each other around a vertical pin placed on a shoulder. Operation took
place thanks to hydraulic turbines powered by a large tank located on
the Aragonese Castle. The inauguration of the Bridge took place on May
22, 1887, by Admiral Ferdinando Acton.
The Bridge and the Canal
have been the subject of numerous restorations. In 1957 the 'hydraulic'
type of operation was replaced with an electric type of operation, but
effectively keeping the engineering principles unchanged. The new bridge
was inaugurated by the President of the Republic Giovanni Gronchi on 10
March 1958, and was named after San Francesco da Paola, protector of
seafarers.
Punta Penna Pizzone Bridge
The Punta Penna Pizzone
Bridge, also known as the Aldo Moro Bridge, is the structure that
connects Punta Penna with Punta Pizzone, at the point where a natural
narrowing creates the two breasts of the Mar Piccolo. Inaugurated on 30
July 1977, it is 1,909 meters long and reaches a height of 45 meters
above sea level. It was made of pre-stressed concrete based on the
engineer's design. Giorgio Belloni, and at the time it cost almost 26
billion lire for the construction alone, plus another 15 billion lire
for the execution of the secondary road works. The need for this great
engineering work arose at the end of the sixties, to overcome the
problems arising from the growing vehicular traffic and the urban
expansion of Taranto. It represents a crucial road tool for the city, as
it allows a rapid connection of the northernmost suburbs with those
further south, especially during the opening procedures of the Swing
Bridge to allow the passage of large military ships, a period in which
Taranto literally remains divided in two.
The bridge, dedicated
in 2008 to the prematurely deceased Apulian statesman Aldo Moro, is
among the longest in Europe and the longest bridge over water in Italy.
Amati Palace
Office Building
Archbishop's Palace
Baffi
Palace
Catapano Palace
Ayala Valva Palace (Ancient Village)
Ayala Valva Palace (Borgo Nuovo)
Palazzo de Beaumont Bonelli
Palazzo Carducci - Artenisio
City Palace
Ciura Palace
Aquino
Palace
Palazzo D'Amati
Palazzo Delli Ponti
Palazzo Fornaro
Frisini Palace
Galeota Palace
Galicia Palace
Palazzo Gallo
Gennarini Palace
governament Palace
Latagliata Palace
Palazzo
Magnini
Palazzo Mannarini
Palazzo Monticelli
Pantaleo Palace
Post Office Building
Santacroce Palace
Santamato Palace
Savino
Amelio Palace
Spartera Palace
Stola Palace
Troilo Palace
Ulmo Palace
Visconti Palace
Zigrino Palace
Clock tower
Gallo
Tower
Aragonese Castle (or Castel Sant'Angelo)
Castel Sant'Angelo is
located near an ancient natural depression of the rock bank above which
the ancient village of the city stands and consists of an Aragonese
reconstruction of a previous Norman-Swabian-Angevin fortress built in
the same point, but having very different since it was a typical
medieval castle with numerous tall and thin towers built on top of a
previous Byzantine fortification which had its foundations resting on
structures dating back to the Greek period (4th-3rd century BC). The
improvement of artillery in the 15th century made medieval castles
obsolete as their thin walls could no longer resist attackers' cannons
nor permit their use by defenders. The conquest of Otranto by the Turks
in 1480 clearly demonstrated that this type of fortification was now
inadequate. The king of Naples, Ferdinand I of Aragon, therefore decided
to strengthen the coastal defenses of the kingdom. In this context,
between 1487 and 1492, the Castle of Taranto was rebuilt perhaps
following the specific project of the great Sienese architect Francesco
di Giorgio. The new castle had a shape vaguely reminiscent of a scorpion
with five round towers located at the corners of the building. These
towers, lower and wider than the previous ones, received the name of San
Cristoforo, San Lorenzo and Sant'Angelo for the three facing the current
navigable canal, while the two on the side of the ancient village were
called Annunziata and Bandiera. Towers and walls were of the same
height, 21 meters, and almost of the same thickness, about 8 meters; all
the towers had a diameter of 18 meters except San Cristoforo which was
10 meters wider. Towards the Mar Grande, in accordance with the probable
project of Francesco di Giorgio, a triangular strut was added in 1491
(true prototype of the 16th century bastion, erroneously called
ravelin), to reinforce the southern curtain and improve the defense
capacity flanking the access to the moat which was widened to connect
the Mar Grande with the Mar Piccolo. The fortifications of the 15th
century had high aesthetic qualities, but a rather ephemeral military
validity due to the rapid progress of artillery. The Spanish, who
succeeded the Aragonese in 1502, expanded the summit platforms to
facilitate the movement and use of artillery. They also filled many of
the intramural tunnels and the upper casemates of the towers with earth
to reinforce them and to obtain artillery positions on the tops of the
towers. Despite the Spanish interventions, the fortress gradually lost
its military validity and after having played a fundamental role in
numerous battles, in particular repelling the Turkish assault in 1594,
it ended up being used as a prison and barracks. This different use led
to the fragmentation of the internal rooms with the closure of passages
and corridors. In addition to this, the increased residential needs
combined with the low cost of plaster and cement have led to the massive
use of these materials to cover walls and floors with the aim of
improving hygienic conditions. The castle, however, remained
substantially intact except for the Sant'Angelo tower, demolished in
1883 to make room for the swing bridge. Starting from 2003, the Navy,
guardian of the castle since 1883, began the systematic restoration of
the interior of the fortress with the aim of bringing it back to its
Aragonese configuration and identifying the previous Greek, Byzantine,
Norman, Swabian-Angevin structures. The internal restoration, carried
out by Navy personnel, under the supervision of the local
Superintendence of Architectural Heritage, essentially consists in the
removal of plaster and cement to bring to light the original surfaces of
walls and floors in the reopening of corridors, rooms and passages, to
also re-establish the permeability of the castle and re-establish the
functionality of the various defensive elements. During these
activities, large quantities of earth were excavated in collaboration
with the University of Bari, under the supervision of the
Superintendency of Archaeological Heritage, leading to the discovery of
numerous finds from different periods spanning almost three thousand
years of history.
Laclos Fortress
The Fortress de Laclos is a
fortification built on the Island of San Paolo by order of Napoleon
Bonaparte at the end of the eighteenth century. The Emperor wanted it
for the protection of the city of Taranto, when he decided to make it
one of his outposts in the Mediterranean Sea. It was led by artillery
general Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, who was buried here from 1803 to
1814, the year in which it is thought that his remains were thrown into
the sea out of hatred towards the French. The fortress still represents
a valuable example of military architecture of the past, also very
important from a paleontological point of view due to the presence of
fossil remains observable in the limestone blocks with which the
structure was covered.
Monument to the Sailor
The Monument to
the Sailor is one of the monuments of the Borgo Nuovo of the city.
Dedicated to the sailors of the Italian Navy, it was made in bronze on
the Corso Due Mari by the sculptor Vittorio Di Cobertaldo in 1974, at
the request of Admiral Angelo Iachino, commander of the fleet stationed
in Taranto during the Second World War, who wanted to donate the opera
to the city which was the scene of the famous "Night of Taranto". The
sculpture, which is approximately seven meters high and rests on a
pedestal, depicts two sailors in the act of greeting the boats that are
about to cross the navigable canal that connects the Mar Grande with the
Mar Piccolo, raising their typical right-handed cap. The work integrates
with the ancient railing of Corso Due Mari on which a five-pointed star
and the coat of arms of the Savoy Navy are imprinted, and aims to
express the bond between the city and the sailors of the Navy. The
sculptor who created the enlargement from the artist Di Cobertaldo's
sketch for the bronze casting was Paolo Bosio, the work was then cast in
the Catani Foundry in Rome, before being transported to the port of
Taranto.
War Memorial
The War Memorial, which stands in the
center of Piazza della Vittoria, is the result of the work of the
Taranto painter and sculptor Francesco Paolo Como, who conceived and
designed this imposing work which he himself created. The supporting
structure, the column, is made of light-coloured limestone, and three
bronze works stand out on it. On the side facing Via d'Aquino, the first
sculpture representing two soldiers holding up a wounded man; on the
opposite side, the one facing Corso Umberto I, a soldier in the act of
hurling an eagle into flight, therefore called Aquilifero; finally, on
the top of the column, a group representing the soldiers with Athena,
the goddess of war in her noblest aspects, and Victoria, the goddess of
victory in battle. On the sides are two bronze doors, with lattice work,
on the sides of which there are two square columns with at the top the
sculpture of the heads of two guards, also remembered by the presence,
as if they were being held, of two gladi in the center of the same
columns. The monument is then completed by some headstones showing the
names of those killed during the First World War and an inscription that
reads: “Strong in life | Epic in death | In history eternal | Taranto
Madre”. The work had its inauguration in November 1930, with the
presence of King Vittorio Emanuele III, a ceremony in which the author
was unable to participate as he was disliked by the local fascist
hierarchies due to his republican commitment. However, the completion
took place, with the inclusion of the Aquiliferom group dedicated to the
Navy, only in 1953.
Other Military Architecture
Maritime
Arsenal of Taranto
Monument to the fallen during the bombings
Main archaeological sites
Doric Temple
Roman column of Porta
Lecce
Saturo Archaeological Park
Archaeological Park of the Greek
Walls
Collepasso Archaeological Park
Archaeological Park of the
Messapian Walls (Manduria)
Crypt of the Redeemer
Triglio aqueduct
Necropolis (Via Marche)
Tomb of the Athletes
Chamber Tomb (Via
Crispi)
Chamber Tomb (Via Acton)
Chamber Tomb (Piazza Pio XII)
Semi-chamber tomb (Via Alto Adige)
Four-Chamber Tomb (Via Pasubio)
Sanctuary (Via Pitagora)
Architectural Fragments (Gardens Fallen on
Work)
Archaeological Area (Villa Peripato)
Archaeological Area
(Former Convent of San Domenico)
Portico and Wall Structure (Viale
Virgilio)
Defensive Wall (Via Emilia)
Defensive Wall and
Necropolis (Solito/Corvisea area)
Greek Walls (Ancient Village)
Fornace (Corso Annibale)
Roman Villa and Necropolis
(Circummarpiccolo)
Roman Villa (Saturo)
Roman Villa (Viale
Virgilio)
Doric Temple
The Temple of Poseidon (or Doric
Temple) is a peripteral temple of the Doric order located in today's
Piazza Castello in the historic center of Taranto. It appears to be the
oldest temple in Magna Graecia. The 2 Doric order columns remaining as
evidence of the ancient Magno-Greek temple, plus a base with 3 drums or
rocchi, were made of local carparo taken from the same acropolis, and
represent the long side of the "peristasis" of the temple, whose remains
have been identified in the cloister and cellars of the Monastery of San
Michele, which forms the backdrop to the ruins alongside the Palazzo di
Città. They are each 8.47 meters high, with a diameter of 2.05 meters
and a distance between centers of 3.72 metres: from the observation of
the area of the "peristasis" and from the calculation of the ratio
between its width and the distance between centres, supposes that the
temple had its front facing the navigable canal, and that it was made up
of 6 columns on the short sides and 13 on the long sides. Furthermore,
both the profile of the capital and the "rocchi", very low and
overlapping without a central pivot, date the artefacts back to the
beginning of the 5th century BC. However, the presence of a small pit
near the columns, as well as the traces present at the edges of it,
suggest the existence of a wooden flooring and riser belonging to an
early cult building, made of raw bricks and perishable material , built
at the end of the 8th century BC. by the first Spartan settlers. The
ruins of the temple were incorporated into the church of the SS.
Trinità, in the courtyard of the Trinitarian oratory, in the Mastronuzzi
house and in the Celestine convent. In 1700, ten sections of columns
were still visible, but they were removed and were lost during the
reconstruction of the convent in 1729. Towards the end of the nineteenth
century, the archaeologist Luigi Viola studied the remains and
attributed the temple to the cult of Poseidon, but it is more likely to
be related to the female deities of Artemis, Persephone or Hera.
Saturo Archaeological Park
The Archaeological Park of Saturo, of
notable historical and archaeological value, with finds ranging from the
advanced Neolithic to the Greek and Roman civilisation, is located in
the locality of the same name in the province of Taranto, which owes its
name to the legend which tells of how Taras , son of Poseidon, in 2000
BC. he founded this settlement dedicating it to his mother, the nymph
Satyria. The Park extends over a promontory of great historical,
naturalistic and landscape interest, the landing place of the Spartans
who in 706 BC, led by Falanto, founded the city of Taranto, making it
the largest Polis of Magna Graecia. In the Park it is possible to visit
the Bronze and Iron Age villages, the Acropolis with the remains of a
Greek sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Athena, and a splendid Roman
coastal villa from the imperial era, with residential rooms, original
mosaic floors and rooms thermal. Also of particular interest are the
Roman cistern, the ancient quarries, the submerged wall structures, the
15th century watchtower and the various buildings built during the
Second World War.
Collepasso Archaeological Park
The area of
Collepasso, to the west of the farm of the same name, corresponds to the
north-eastern sector of the ancient centre, which still coincides today
with a recently urbanized peripheral neighbourhood: it is a real
"island" spared from the invasive expansion construction as it is a
state-owned area, which is also adjacent to military areas. During the
excavation campaign carried out in 1987, the remains of the Greek age
wall circuit (5th century BC) were brought to light, which protected the
town towards the east and which reached, in this stretch, the coast of
the Mar Piccolo. The walls, preserved today at foundation level, were
built with carparo blocks, with a double face, with transversal
connecting partitions and internal emplekton (filling). In some sectors,
an assize relating to the spiccato is also preserved, installed with
blocks arranged head-to-head along the euthynteria line (alignment line)
traced on the foundation row. In the same area, towards the interior of
the city, several groups of tombs dating back to the end of the 5th and
the first decades of the 4th century BC are also preserved. These are
tombs with a prevalent north-south orientation, of various types
(sarcophagus, pit dug into the rock bank, pit partially covered with
limestone slabs), almost always with a counter-pit. The presence in the
Roman era is documented by the presence of a road that crossed the walls
perpendicularly. Passing via C. Battisti. immediately behind Campo
Mazzola, other remains of the wall circuit are visible, better known as
the walls of Solito-Corvisea, brought to light between 1970 and 1973.
Greco-Roman necropolis
The study of the necropolises discovered
in the city has provided archaeologists with a large amount of
information on the society, culture, art and work of the ancient peoples
of the Greco-Roman period. The remains found testify to the presence of
real funerary rituals: the burials took place by inhumation, that is,
burying the deceased in a fetal position, but also by cremation, that
is, by burning the bodies of the deceased and preserving their ashes in
an urn. The funerary objects, usually linked to the individual's daily
life, were placed inside the tombs, therefore they were accompanied with
utensils, food and jewels, in an attempt to imitate the home of the
deceased.
In the Necropolis of Taranto different types of tombs
can be found:
the "chamber tombs" and the "semi-chamber tombs",
adopted by aristocratic families, located at the intersection of two
streets to be easily identifiable;
the "pit tombs", adopted by
plebeian families, dug into the rock and closed by a boulder.
Tomb of the Athletes
On the corner between via Pitagora and via
Crispi, a large chamber tomb is visible, located near the main road axes
of the Greek urban fabric and considered one of the most important
monuments of Tarantine funerary architecture from the archaic age (late
6th - early 5th century . BC). With a quadrangular plan and entirely
built and paved in regular carparo blocks, the structure had an original
roof with slabs and architraves, also in carparo, supported by two Doric
columns, aligned in the center of the room. The internal space is
organized on the model of the andròn, the banquet room reserved for men
in the archaic Greek house: the seven sarcophagi, one of which was never
used, are arranged - like the convivial beds (the klinai) - along the
walls. In the central space there are copies of the rich accompanying
equipment, positioned outside and inside the sarcophagi. The objects, as
well as the tomb structure, allude to the representative aspects of
Taranto's aristocratic culture: athleticism and the symposium.
Particular importance is reserved, in the center of the funerary
chamber, to the Panathenaic amphora, a prize awarded to the winning
athletes during the competitions that characterized the festivals
celebrated in Athens in honor of the goddess Athena. This extraordinary
funerary monument therefore constitutes - due to its dimensions, layout
and grave goods - an evident testimony to the high social level of
belonging of the buried individuals, united in life - as in death - by
political, cultural and ideological affinities.
Crypt of the
Redeemer
The Crypt of the Redeemer (or of the Madonna della Grotta)
is an underground rock church located in the city of Taranto. It was
originally an ancient Roman chamber tomb of the imperial age located in
via Terni, connected to an ancient spring water well. The circular cave
with a diameter of about eight meters, whose walls are decorated with
frescoes of great artistic value dating back to the early 12th century.
The crypt was part of the Church of Santa Maria di Murivetere, closed
for worship in 1578 by Monsignor Lelio Brancaccio. In fact, tradition
states that the first Christian cult was celebrated in the crypt
according to the Byzantine liturgy. In the 12th century it was
accompanied by frescoes of notable beauty including Christ Pantocrator
between Saint John and the Virgin in the apse, and the side walls are
decorated with figures of saints San Basilio, Sant'Euplo and San Biagio.
San Domenico Cloister Hypogeum
Hypogeum of Largo San Martino
Hypogeum of Vicoletto Galeone
Hypogeum of Palazzo Di Stani
Hypogea
of Piazza Castello
Hypogeum of Palazzo Calò
Hypogeum of Vico Calò
Hypogeum of Palazzo Catapano
Hypogeum of Piazzetta San Francesco
Hypogeum of Via San Francesco
Hypogeum of Palazzo Monticelli
Hypogeum of Palazzo Baffi
Hypogeum of Palazzo Santamato
Hypogeum
of Palazzo Stola
Hypogeum of Palazzo Galeota
Hypogeum of Palazzo
Gennarini
Hypogeum of Beaumont - Bellacicco
Hypogean Funerary
Basilica - Palazzo Delli Ponti
Marinelli Hypogeum - Largo Gennarini
Hypogeum of Palazzo Delli Ponti
Hypogeum of Via Duomo, corner of
Largo Gennarini
Hypogeum of Palazzo Fornaro
Hypogeum of Palazzo
Gallo - Nardoni
Hypogeum of Sant'Andrea degli Armeni
Hypogeum of
the Port Authority
Hypogeum of Palazzo Arco Paisiello
Hypogeum of
Palazzo Mannarini
Giudetti Hypogeum
Hypogeum of the Diocesan
Museum
Hypogeum of Palazzo Amati
Hypogeum of Palazzo Ciura
Hypogeum of Palazzo Spartera
Hypogeum of the Carducci Bastion
Hypogeum of Palazzo Ulmo
Danish Hypogeum
Hypogeum of Palazzo
Galizia
Hypogeum of Via Pentite, corner of Via Cava
Hypogea of Via
Cava
Hypogeum of Vico Vigile
Norman oil mill
Via Cava oil mill
Medieval oil mill
Medieval furnace
Fallow construction site
Luigi Ferrajolo Meteorological and Geophysical Observatory Hypogeum
Hypogeum of Palazzo Zigrino
Rock environment - Vico Vigile
Hypogeum of Via Cavour al Borgo
Hypogeum of Palazzo D'Aquino
Hypogeum of Arco Madonna del Pozzo
Hypogeum of the San Luigi
Institute
Peripato Gardens
The Peripato Gardens are a green area of
approximately 5 hectares considered the "green lung" of the center of
Taranto. This is an area initially intended as a citrus grove by the
noble families of Taranto and which in the first decades of the
twentieth century was made "Communal Villa" by the Municipality of
Taranto. Inside there are numerous archaeological and naturalistic
findings.
Eastern Regional Nature Reserve "Palude La Vela"
The
"La Vela" swamp is a protected natural area of state property with
naturalistic-environmental value located on the shores of the Mar
Piccolo. The environment is predominantly marshy, with reeds and
Mediterranean scrub, large marshes and periodically submerged areas. The
avifauna is characterized by a permanent colony of gray herons, but
during the winter months the population increases significantly in
number and species: cranes, storks, flamingos, shelducks and ospreys are
reported. Other lake birds such as mute swans, mallards, coots, herring
gulls and cormorants and woodland birds such as crows, magpies,
woodpeckers, wrens, jays and numerous birds of prey make it a perfect
place for birdwatching. Reptiles such as the pond turtle, the deer and
the pit viper are common as are amphibians. Mammals consist of rodents
such as the oak mouse, voles, squirrels and porcupines and other animals
such as foxes, martens, badgers, hedgehogs and wild boars. The flora
features large samphire forests, spontaneous orchids and Aleppo pine
forests. The oasis mainly acts as a center for the irradiation of
avifauna which gradually colonizes the surrounding areas, and is managed
by the WWF of Taranto, which carries out dissemination, monitoring and
anti-poaching activities.
The myth of Falanto
On the seafront of the Borgo Antico, a 140 m²
ceramic panel depicts the legend of Greek colonization and the
subsequent birth of Taranto. The work created by the artist Silvana
Galeone based on a project by the Filonide Cultural Center, is inspired
by the myth of the Spartan hero Phalantos and by the response of the
Oracle of Delphi he consulted, who ruled: «When you see it rain from the
clear sky, you will conquer territory and city.». Falanto, seeing his
wife Ethra crying, whose name in Greek means "clear sky", believed that
the oracle had come true, and set about founding his city to which he
gave the name of Saturo, a place still existing a few kilometers from
the city.
Holy Week in Taranto, Borgo Antico and Borgo Umbertino.
Free and
thinking May Day (Archaeological Park of the Greek Walls). May 1.
Feast of San Cataldo. May 10th. Feast of the Patron Saint
RaffoFest
(On the seafront roundabout). In June. Raffo Beer Festival.
Cinzella
Festival. In August.
By plane
Bari-Palese and Brindisi-Casale airports.
By car
From the north: A14 direction. Taranto, then signs for the city center.
From the north/west (Basilicata, Calabria): SS 106 Ionica direction.
Taranto.
From the north/east (Province of Bari): SS 100 of Gioia del
Colle, direction. Taranto.
From the east (Province of Brindisi): SS 7
APPIA, direction. Taranto.
From the south/east (Province of Lecce):
SS 7ter Salentina, direction. Taranto.
On boat
Port of
Taranto.
On the train
Taranto station.
By bus
Marinobus Bus Lines
Marozzi Autolinee
Flixbus
South Eastern
Railways (buses)
Average prices
Palazzo Mar Piccolo - holiday apartments, Via
Garibaldi 130, ☎ +39 3738120884, smeraldamarr@gmail.com. Located close
to the Borgo Antico marina of Taranto, the structure overlooks one of
the most beautiful points of Taranto, perfectly connected to the rest of
the city by local public transport. The medieval palace is finely
finished with wooden and marble decorations. The structure consists of 4
mini apartments all furnished with period furniture and decorated with
18th century ceramics complete with every comfort, cold/hot air
conditioning system, hob, minibar, washing machine and bathroom complete
with shower and bidet.
«While most of the Gulf of Taranto is importuous, in Taranto there is
a very beautiful and large port with a perimeter of 100 stadia, closed
by a large bridge. An isthmus is formed between the bottom of the port
and the open sea, so that the city stands on a peninsula and since the
neck of the isthmus is not very high, ships can easily be towed from one
side to the other."
(Strabo - Geography, VI, 3, 1. Translation by
Nicola Biffi)
Taranto extends for 249.86 km² and represents the natural view of the
homonymous gulf of the Taranto Ionian arc. Presenting a predominantly
flat morphology of the territory, the city develops along three natural
peninsulas and an island, the latter being the historical nucleus of the
town, formed during the construction of the moat of the Aragonese
Castle. The municipality also has six exclaves, including the hamlet of
San Donato. The epithet City of the two seas is due to the Mar Grande
and the Mar Piccolo, around which most of the residential settlements
are located.
Mar Grande and Mar Piccolo
The Mar Grande washes
the external coast, enclosed in the bay bordered to the north-west by
Punta Rondinella and to the south by Capo San Vito. The ideal arc
created by the natural bay ends with the Cheradi Islands. This sea
connects with the Mar Piccolo in only two points, represented by the
natural canal of Porta Napoli and the artificial navigable canal that
separates the historic urban settlement from the larger part of the
city.
The Mar Piccolo, therefore considered an internal sea, is
made up of two breasts ideally divided by the Punta Penna-Pizzone
Bridge, which connects Punta Penna with Punta Pizzone: the first breast
has the shape of a rough triangle, whose southern vertices are
represented by the opening to the east on the second breast, and by the
one to the west on the Great Sea; the second sine instead has the shape
of an ellipse, whose major axis measures almost 5 km.
Both the
winds and the tides, together with the underwater springs with different
salinity, influence the trend of the superficial and deep type currents
between the two seas. Both the two breasts of the Mar Piccolo and the
Mar Grande could have very ancient volcanic origins. In the Mar Grande
and in the northern part of both inlets of the Mar Piccolo there are
some springs such as those of Tara (north of the Mar Grande), Galeso
(first inlet of the Mar Piccolo), Riso and Cervaro or Battendieri
(second inlet of the Mar Piccolo). Mar Piccolo near the Palude La Vela)
and submarines called citri[30], which provide non-drinkable fresh water
mixed with brackish water, creating an ideal hydrobiological condition
for the cultivation of mussels, commonly called «mussels».
The city of Taranto is characterized by prevalent and organized
rainfall in the October-March period (autumn, winter and early spring:
71% of annual rainfall). In summer (July-August) they are reduced to
thermo-convective storms which prefer the more inland areas and only
partially reach the coast.
In spring the average rainfall varies
from 26.7 mm in May to 48.5 mm in March; in summer they vary from 12.6
mm in July to 19.1 mm in June; in autumn they fluctuate from 36.5 mm in
September to 63.7 mm in November; finally, in winter they range between
64.1 mm in December and 52.7 mm in January.
In spring, maximum
rainfall varies from 101.2 mm in April to 162.1 mm in March; in summer
they vary from 126.4 mm in August to 102.0 mm in June; in autumn they
fluctuate from 129.2 mm in September to 295.8 mm in October; finally, in
winter they range between 175.4 mm in December and 194.4 mm in January.
In spring the minimum rainfall varies from 0.2 mm in May to 0.6 mm
in April; in summer they correspond to 0.0 mm in June, July and August;
in autumn they vary from 0.0 mm in September to 0.2 mm in October;
finally, in winter they fluctuate from 0.2 mm in February to 1.4 mm in
December.
The average summer temperature (June-July-August) stands at 25.5 °C,
the winter one (December-January-February) at 10.3 °C, the summer highs
almost always exceed 30 °C; sometimes there can be real hot days with
values above 35-36, the winter minimums drop below 2-3 °C, but during
the cold waves they can drop to values close to 0 °C (historical record
-3.8 °C) . The climate of Taranto can be defined as a Mediterranean
climate.
In spring, average temperatures vary from 12.0 °C in
March to 19.3 °C in May; in summer they vary from 26.5 °C to 26.6 °C in
July and August; in autumn they fluctuate from 18.8 °C in October to
14.5 °C in November; finally, in winter they are between 9.6 °C in
January and 11.1 °C in December.
The climate of Taranto depends on several climatic factors: latitude, altitude above the sea, position on two seas and orography.
Taranto is at 40° 25′ 05″ N and this, given the position with respect to the Equator, makes the climate mild (with hot-dry summers and moderately cold winters).
Taranto is located at an average altitude of 15 m above sea level. with a flat altimetric profile and minimal variations, ranging from 0 m above sea level. at approximately 30 m above sea level.
The air masses coming from the southern quadrants which were originally dry, become loaded with humidity as they pass over the Ionian Sea, resulting in high relative humidity. The weather conditions in these circumstances are with overcast skies, very strong wind and low, fast clouds flowing in a S/E-N/W direction. They represent ideal conditions for heavy rainfall due to the Murgia stau and sometimes the presence of advection fog. The icy currents, however, bring notable temperature drops and sustained winds, but given the presence of the Murgia plateau, they cause substantially clear or slightly cloudy skies. Snow falls in the presence of ionic cyclogenesis and east/northeast winds and/or in the presence of ASE with more random and less long-lasting accumulations. During the day, in the absence of synoptic wind, a pleasant southerly breeze occurs, replaced by a light east/northeast breeze after sunset.
The etymological classification of the name of the city of Taranto is
anything but easy. The toponym Taras (in ancient Greek: Τάρας?), the
first name of the city, is closely connected to the Hellenic
colonization of Magna Graecia which took place starting from the 8th-7th
century BC. with the Ionic and Doric colonies: as well as on the
Magno-Greek coins dating back to the city's period of maximum splendor,
the toponym also appears on the Map of Soleto, the oldest Western
geographical map from classical antiquity, engraved on a small fragment
of a black enamelled Attic vase.
Taras was a figure in Greek
mythology, son of Poseidon and the nymph Satyria, as well as the
legendary founder of the city of Taranto, and this should be anything
but a coincidence.
However, it is not possible to completely exclude
the derivation of the toponym from the name of the river Tara, or from
the Sanskrit term taranta-h (i.e. "sea").
«And if adverse fate keeps me away,
then I will seek the sweet
waters of the Galeso
dear to sheep wrapped in skins,
and the
fertile fields that once belonged to Phalanto the Spartan.
That
corner of the world cheers me up more than any other,
where the
honeys compete with those of Mount Imetto
and the olives are equal to
those of Venafro;
where Jupiter gives springs, long and warm winters,
and where Aulone, also dear to Bacchus who fertilizes everything,
the
grape liqueur from the Falerno vines does not envy at all.»
(Quinto
Orazio Flacco - To Septimius - Odes, II, 6, 10. Translation by Enrico
Vetrò)
Traditional chronology assigns the date of the foundation of Taranto
to 706 BC. The sources handed down by the historian Eusebius of Caesarea
speak of the transfer to this area of the Spartan Falanto, son of the
noble Aratus and descendant of Heracles of the 8th generation, and of
other compatriots called Parthenians, due to the need for expansion or
for commercial reasons. These, landing on the Saturo promontory and
establishing the first settlements, brought a new lifeblood of
civilization and traditions.
The social structure of the colony
developed over time a true aristocratic culture, whose wealth probably
came from the exploitation of the resources of the fertile surrounding
territory, which was populated and defended by a series of phrouria
including Pezza Petrosa, small fortified centers in a strategic
position. Taranto therefore has very ancient origins. During the period
of Greek colonization on the coasts of southern Italy, the city was
among the most important of Magna Graecia. In that period, in fact, it
became an economic, military and cultural power, which gave birth to
philosophers, strategists, writers and athletes, also becoming home to
the Pythagorean school of Taranto, the second most important after that
of Crotone. Starting from 367 BC, it was the most powerful city among
those that constituted the Italian League. In 281 BC. entered into
conflict with Rome (Tarentine war) together with his ally Pyrrhus, King
of Epirus, but definitively capitulated in 272 BC. During the Second
Punic War, Taranto opened its doors to Hannibal in 212 BC, but was
punished three years later with the massacre of its citizens and
plundering when Fabius Maximus reconquered it. In 125 BC. a Roman colony
was deduced there (colonia neptunia), while in 90 BC. it was erected as
a Municipium with the Lex municipii Tarentini. In the Neronian period,
Taranto was chosen as the destination for a large number of war veterans
who served in various legions, including the V Macedonica, the XII
Fulminata and the IIII Scythica.
The Principality of Taranto (1088-1465) was a Norman principality of
which Taranto became the capital.
The first regent was Robert
Guiscard's son, Bohemond I of Antioch, who obtained the title following
a succession dispute: his father, after having repudiated his first wife
Alberada, Bohemond's mother, took Sichelgaita as his wife. With the
latter he had a son, Ruggero Borsa, who he designated as his successor
to the Duchy of Puglia. Bohemond was rewarded with Taranto and the lands
and castles of the Terra d'Otranto.
The Principality of Taranto,
during its 377 years of history, was sometimes a powerful feudal
dominion dependent on the Kingdom of Sicily (and later on the Kingdom of
Naples), other times it was reduced to a mere title, often granted to
the heir to the throne or to the husband of a reigning queen.
In the Middle Ages it was conquered by Totila in 549 and retaken by Narses in 552. Conquered by the Lombards, it was retaken by the Emperor Constantine II in 663, and then passed into the hands of Romualdo, Lombard Duke of Benevento, and returned to the Byzantines in 803. Conquered by the Saracens in 846, 868 and 927, Emperor Nicephorus Phocas had it rebuilt in 967. Occupied in 1063 by Robert Guiscard, it became the center of a powerful fiefdom. It hosted a large Jewish community, quantifiable in 1167 at 200 families, according to the chronicle of Benjamin of Tudela. From 1301 to 1463 it was a flourishing principality (Principality of Taranto). It then became an important military port under the Spanish, until it declined in the 17th century under the Bourbons. Taranto was united to the Kingdom of Italy in 1860. On 21 August 1889, after six years of work, the Maritime Military Arsenal was inaugurated in the presence of Umberto I of Savoy, which increased its importance both from an economic point of view both military and demographic. During the First World War, Taranto was chosen as a base by the Italian, French and English naval fleets.
During the Second World War, the city suffered a bombing historically
remembered as the night of Taranto, following which 85 civilian and
military victims were counted.
Between the night of 11 and 12
November 1940, due to its strategic and military importance, the city
suffered a devastating attack by the British Royal Navy. The dynamics of
the action were carefully studied by the Japanese in order to then be
able to use them in anticipation of the attack on the Pearl Harbor base.
During that night, 21 aircraft of the Fairey Swordfish type equipped
with torpedoes and bombs took off from the English aircraft carrier
Illustrious, which was 170 miles from the coast escorted by the
battleships Malaya, Ramilies, Valiant, Warspite, the cruisers
Gloucester, York and by 13 destroyers. In command was Admiral Andrew
Cunningham. The English planes that left in two successive waves arrived
undisturbed on Taranto. Thanks to a previous reconnaissance which was
not opposed by the Italian defense, the pilots knew perfectly the units
to hit, which were among other things equipped with insufficient torpedo
nets and protected by few barrage balloons. In the attack the Italian
fleet suffered serious damage. The battleship Conte di Cavour suffered
the most damage, being partially sunk. Furthermore, the battleships
Duilio and Littorio and the cruiser Trento were seriously damaged.
Damage was also reported by the two destroyers Libeccio and Pessagno.
Various fuel depots on the mainland were also attacked. In the end the
toll was 85 dead, of which 55 civilians, and 581 wounded, despite the
War Bulletin of the Supreme Command n. 158 of 12 November 1940 stated
that there would be no casualties. One of the tragic memories of that
battle for the inhabitants of Taranto, witnesses of the event, was
hearing from the sea the heartbreaking screams of suffering of the
Italian soldiers embarked on the damaged ships, victims of the
torpedoes.
In 1965, the IV Italsider Steel Center was inaugurated by the President of the Republic Giuseppe Saragat, the largest steel production center in Europe whose first production was the pipes that today carry gas from Siberia to Italy. Thanks to this new industrial reality, and having a large mercantile port, the city experienced another and more marked growth in the local economy, with a consequent increase in population and per capita income, and in the following years becoming a settlement area. of cement factories, refineries and metalworking industries. On 18 October 2005 the financial collapse of the Municipality of Taranto was officially declared. The ascertained liabilities initially amounted to €357,356,434, but in March 2007, the head of the municipality's liquidation commission, Francesco Boccia, declared a figure of approximately €637 million.