ADVERTISING INFORMATION

Bari - Culture 

The Cathedral is dedicated to San Sabino. It was built in 1166 in Apulian Romanesque style, on a previous construction, which was demolished by the Norman king William "il Malo" ten years earlier.

The building has undoubtedly existed since the XI century because it was demolished in 1034 under orders from the Byzantine Archbishop to build a better one and in 1064 a synod was already celebrated there. When the Cathedral was destroyed by William "il Malo" in 1156, along with almost all the rest of the city, Archbishop Rainaldo ordered a new building to be constructed ten years later.

The Basilica of San Nicola is the prototype Apulian Romanesque style building. Building work was started in 1087 to house the Saint's remains, immediately after his bones were brought to Bari.

The Norman-Swabian Castle is located near the old town of Bari, a stone's throw from the Romanesque cathedral dedicated to San Sabino. This impressive fortified structure was used in the past to defend the city. It was built around 1131 by Roger the Norman, who promoted intense civil and religious reorganisation of the city, giving a great impulse to the sea traffic and freeing it from the period experienced under the previous Byzantine domination. It was destroyed by the Byzantines and then rebuilt and expanded by Frederick II in the XIII century when he established his large defensive plan against internal and external enemies. The castle underwent a great deal of restoration in the Angevin period and was later expanded by the Spanish with the mighty bastioned "outer protection" with lance shaped corner towers, smaller on the seaward side, which is already protected by the water and of a mighty size towards the city, built to bring the fortress into line with the new requirements imposed by the use of firearms. The XVI century was the period in which Isabel of Aragon, Duchess of Bari, moved into the castle with her daughter Bona Sforza. The Duchess was a very capable woman with clear political ideas. She transformed the castle into a rich renaissance dwelling and gave it its last period of splendour. Indeed, in this period the castle was a haven for writers, artist and powerful courtiers. However, after 1500, the fortification underwent a sudden decay, under the Bourbon dynasty it became a prison (one of the towers on the left is called "the juvenile's" tower because it was used as a juvenile prison from 1832 onwards). During the French revolution the Bourbons used it as a fortress and a prison; then it became a barracks for the infantry and the Gendarmes.

Isabel of Aragon was born on 3rd October 1470, daughter of Ippolita Maria Sforza and Alfonso of Aragon, erstwhile Duke of Calabria, she married her cousin Giangaleazzo Sforza, twenty-year-old Duke of Milan in 1488, thus becoming the Duchess, in name, of a State which was already under the control of Ludovico il Moro. He later expelled Duke Giangaleazzo and his wife from the Dukedom of Milan and banished them to Pavia. Giangaleazzo died shortly after, possibly poisoned by del Moro. When Louis XII (1498-1515) came to Italy against Ludovico il Moro, the mutual fate of the Dukedom of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples were decided. On 31st August 1499 Isabel obtained the Dukedom of Bari. However, she did not go there with her daughter Bona until 1501. As soon as she heard that the French had entered into Bitonto, she fortified the city and did everything possible to show her Spanish loyalty. After having decided that her daughter Bona would marry Sigismundo King of Poland, with the clause that the first son would obtain the Dukedom of Milan, she came to Bari even less. She died in Naples on 11th February 1524 of dropsy; she was buried in the sacristy of the Convent of S. Domenico.

Back to Europe

© Copyright 2000 - 2004  Eurotravelling.net  POWERED BY wORLDTRAVELGATE.NET