An Armchair Traveller's History of Apulia

by Seward, Desmond

  Poggiardo/Vaste

  The history of Poggiardo is that of most of the Salento south of Òtranto. Vaste was an important Messapian settlement from the seventh century BC, subsequently destroyed by Goths and Saracens, and finally by William the Bad who in 1147 razed it to the ground. The inhabitants moved to neighbouring Poggiardo which, from a small village, began to expand at the end of the fourteenth century after it had sided with Charles of Anjou against Manfred. A century later it became part of the Principality of Tàranto and was defended with walls and a castle. After the destruction of nearby Castro by the Turks it became the seat of the bishop. The fifteenth bishop’s palace was sold to the Guarini after a rising against the bishop in 1756 and was subsequently a prison and a tobacco factory. In the Piazza Episcopo is the museum of frescoes from the rupestrian church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. Between Poggiardo and modern Vaste lies the Parco dei Guerrieri di Vaste, an archeological area which includes the Messapian remains of Vaste and the Cripta di Santi Stefani whose frescoes are in a bad state of repair, the church having been used as a tobacco drying barn within living memory.

  Putignano

  An ancient Peucetian settlement it became a Roman municipium. In the early eleventh century the land belonged to the Benedictine monks of Monopoli and their labourers gathered to form a village on the old site. In the thirteenth century Frederick II built a fortified hunting lodge just outside the walls but because he had been excommunicated by the Pope on the advice of the monks, Putignano denied him access. In a rage he demolished the castle and partially destroyed the town walls. In 1317 the Pope gave Putignano to the Knights of Malta. Because of the increasing danger of Turkish raids the Byzantine icon and relics of St Stephen were brought from Monopoli and housed in a new church. The Putignano Carnival which is still held every year dates from the arrival of the icon. The walls were rebuilt in the fifteenth century by the Balì Carafa who also greatly enlarged the original church of San Pietro. Napoleon’s troops removed most of the church bells in Putignano and stole many church treasures.

  Ruvo di Puglia

  A flourishing Peucetian centre from the ninth century BC trading with Greece in ceramics, wine and oil, between the fifth and third centuries BC it was colonised by Greeks from Arcadia. By the fourth century BC its territory included modern Molfetta, Corato, Trani, Terlizzi and Bisceglie. A large collection of Apulian and Attic pottery from the extensive necropolis is in the Museo Jatta. A Roman municipium on the Via Traiana, with the rise of Molfetta, Trani and Bisceglie, it had lost a lot of its territory by the fifth century when it was sacked by the Goths and totally destroyed. The new city was surrounded by high walls with four gates and in the centre a tall tower, now the campanile of the wonderful Romanesque cathedral. During the reign of Roger II of Sicily the city rebelled and, having withstood a lengthy siege, was betrayed by one of the citizens and partially destroyed. It bounced back in the twelfth century, when the cathedral was founded, and flourished again. The walls were strengthened under the Angevins who built the castle on the site of Frederick II’s fortress but were destroyed once more in 1350, this time by Ruggiero Sanseverino. In 1503 the Duc de Namours billeted his men in Ruvo and sent out the thirteen Frenchmen who took part in the Disfida di Barletta. From 1510 Ruvo belonged to the Carafa family and during their rule and the arrival of the Dominican monks the city became enriched with churches, palaces and monasteries. When Napoleon’s troops arrived in 1799 the people of Ruvo flew the tricolore from the clock tower and planted a Tree of Liberty which was swiftly cut down when a rumour that the British Navy was about to bombard any city which had planted the tree – they seem to have had a strange idea of the fire power of the navy at the time, Ruvo being about twelve kilometres from the the coast. Ettore Carafa and Giovanni Jatta, although on opposing sides, managed to make Ruvo avoid the worst excesses of this violent period and after the Unification of Italy Ruvo once again flourished as a centre for olive oil and wine.

  San Giovanni Rotondo

  Most people who come to this town do so to visit the tomb of Padre Pio but it is worthwhile wandering round the old part with its gateways, churches and sixteenth and seventeenth century palaces. Such is the fervour of devotion to Padre Pio that another new church had to be built to accommodate the thousands of pilgrims who visit the city. This is next to the one over his tomb, was consecrated in 2004 and is capable of holding more than 7000 people; it is one of the largest and most modern in Italy and was founded almost entirely by contributions from the pilgrims.

  San Vito dei Normanni

  The area was inhabited since at least the Bronze Age but the modern settlement dates from the tenth century AD when it was founded by a colony of Slavs from Croatia. Bohemond d’Hauteville built the fortress as a hunting lodge; it is now the Comune where one can obtain the key to the rupestrian Church of San Biagio with its wonderful Byzantine frescoes. The town passed from the Hautevilles to the Sambiase then to Raimondo del Balzo Orsini. The church of the Madonna della Vittoria was built to commemorate the participation of many of the inhabitants at the Battle of Lepanto. Like many Apulian cities it was greatly increased in size under Mussolini and again in the late twentieth century making it difficult to reach the old part – and making parking a nightmare.

  Tàranto

  One of the most important centres in Magna Graecia, traditionally founded in 706 BC. The archeological museum has amongst other things stunning gold jewellery found in tombs in the surrounding area. Also of note are the Cathedral and the Old Town, the Fortezza di Laclos and the Castello Aragonese built originally by the Byzantines for protection against the Saracens and Venetians and greatly altered by Ferdinando II d’Aragona in 1486. It is one of the most polluted cities in Puglia, however, and not a place to linger, nor is there much to see in the way of Greek remains – a couple of columns from a temple here, a grave there – and the rupestrian Cripta del Redentore with good frescoes dating from the twelfth century is now closed for restoration.

  Trani

  Of all the coastal cities in the Terra di Bari Trani is probably the most attractive place to stay; the old part is less shabby than that of Bisceglie or Molfetta, the port beautiful and there is more to see than at Barletta. The origins of Trani really only date from the the ninth century AD when the seat of the episcopal See was transfered from Canosa to Trani after Canosa was sacked by the Saracens in 813. The fishing port expanded and became important during the Crusades and the cathedral dedicated to St Nicolas the Pilgrim was founded in 1097. The bronze doors made by Barisanus of Trani in 1175 are outstanding. From the same period dates the Templars’ Chiesa di Ognissanti. Frederick II had the greatest influence on Trani’s prosperity, building the walls and castle and granting privileges to Jews and Florentines who traded with the East. There are still two synagogues – the Scolanova restored to the Jewish rite and that which became the Church of St Anna but is now a museum. The city declined during the Aragonese period with the expulsion of the Jews but recovered under the Bourbons and now the Jews have returned and form one of the largest communities in Italy.

  Troia

  An attractive city on the top of a hill in the predominately agricultural area south west of Foggia. According to legend founded by Diomede in the twelfth century BC. The earliest archeological evidence points to a much later date but it was a Daunian centre and taken by Hannibal after the battle of Cannae. The present city began to be built round a fortress, after the town had been besieged and sacked by the Saracens, in 1019. The Romanesque cathedral with two rose-windows and outstanding bronze doors by Odisirio da Benevento was built by the Normans in the twelfth century using material from the Byzantine church and the Roman city. Pope Urban II held the first Council of Troia in 1093 followed by three more – the last in 1127. Owing to its allegiance to the papacy, it was besieged by the Hohenstaufen emperors Henry II and Frederick II. The city sided with the Angevines, the Aragons and then the Bourbons.

  Vieste

  Vieste was inhabited from paleoli
thic times later becoming a Greek colony and a Roman municipality. During the Middle Ages, be-cause of its strategic position on the tip of the Gargano, it was fought over by the Byzantines, Normans, Lombards, Venetians and Arabs. The castle was built by Frederick II in 1240 and later strengthened with bastions and ramparts but was seriously damaged in 1648 by an earthquake. It was attacked by the Turks in 1480, 1554, 1674 and 1678. During the Risorgimento many died in violent clashes between supporters of the Bourbons and supporters of the Unification. Now it is a popular sea-side resort with a lovely beach.

  Venosa (now in Basilicata)

  A Roman colony and birthplace of Horace it has evidence of its origins in the stones used to build the Church of the Santissima Trinità, many of which come from the Roman city around it. This church built by the Normans and consecrated in 1059 was later given to the Benedictines who began to enlarge it on a vast scale, but had only reached the arches, when they were banished by Pope Boniface VIII in 1297. The Order of Malta to whom it was given established themselves in the city and the building was never finished – hence its modern name of La Chiesa Incompiuta (The unfinished church). Next to the church is the Archeological Park with remains of the second century AD Roman amphitheatre, a fine mosaic pavement and Roman and medieval buildings. There are two medieval fountains from the Middle Ages – The Fontana Angioina erected by Charles of Anjou in 1298 and the Fontana di Messer Oto erected in honour of Roger of Anjou. Pirro del Balzo’s castle in the centre of Venosa was converted from a fortress into an elegant residence by the composer Gesualdo and is now the Archeological Museum. Below the city the Jewish and Christian catacombs lie side by side and date from the fourth to sixth centuries.