ADVERTISING INFORMATION

Bari - History 

Bari, is the Apulian capital and has been characterised for centuries by intense commercial activity. It was probably founded in 150 B.C. It is situated in the territory of the Peucezi, an ancient population of the japigio line whose presence in the Bari Area was recorded from the 1st Millennium B.C.. The geological aspect of the whole area is an interesting one with the backbone formed by Cretaccio limestone, famous for having given an expression to Apulian Romanesque. There are megalithic constructions dating back to prehistoric periods, like dolmens, menhir and "specchie".

Its geographical position meant that Apulia had intense commercial relations with Greece to the east which continued uninterrupted even when the Romans arrived in the second half of the IV century B.C. The spread of the Romans in Apulia which terminated at the end of the IV Century B.C, led to a revitalising process of the urban fabric and the minting of bronze coins, indicating a kind of independence for the city and conciliatory relations with Rome.
After the fall of the western Roman Empire, the region underwent a period of destruction and death due to the Greek-Gothic war which ended with the Byzantine victory in 553 A.D. The Barbarians waited very little to invade, actually the Longobards, who were interested in Apulia, restricted the Byzantine domination to the coasts and the Salentino peninsula in 568. Later the region was invaded again lby the Saracens. In spite of the short Islamic occupation, it cannot be excluded that the city received a Muslim modification: for example the current layout of the old town could be the result of a Muslim idea of architecture.

In 871 Bari was freed from Saracens by the Frankish king Ludwig II who returned it to the Byzantines. They made it the capital of the region of Longobardia. Melo, who was tired of the greedy Byzantine government, started a revolt in 1009, which made it necessary for him to take refuge in the Gargano. There he had his first contact with the Normans who were on a pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of San Michele Arcangelo

In spite of the ups and downs of war, the new Norman domination favoured great economic development of the area and an increase in the sea trade, but the growth of building work in the town led the people to manifest their disapproval to the dominators. This behaviour made the Norman king William I il Malo react: some reports talk of the complete evacuation of the town and its subsequent destruction. The Normans built the Castles of Conversano and Gioia de Colle, the
latter embellished by Frederick II when the Swabian dynasty replaced the Norman one.The new dominators moved in two directions above all: they stimulated the coastal towns to bind commercial relations with Venice, Dalmatia and the Near East countries and promoted lively building activity, especially in terms of castles. 

The most famous are Castel del Monte and the Swabian Castle of Bari, built in the XI Century by the Normans and restructured and expanded by Frederick II. In 1282 Bari was absorbed into the Kingdom of Naples, firstly under the Angevins and then under the Aragonese from 1442. The Aragonese built strong fortifications to fend off the Turkish offence. The XVI century saw the Spanish domination and bad governing; actually their complete disinterest for the region culminated in the agricultural and sea trade crises. After two centuries of misery, the Austrians took over from the Spanish and then the Bourbonne dynasty in 1734. However, Charles II, king of Naples did not do anything to improve conditions. During the rebellions of 1799, the sincere faithfulness demonstrated by the citizens of Bari to the Republican-French ideals lead to it being nominated as the provincial capital in 1806. The construction of the new quarter, with a completely different structure to that of the old town was an important change. Indeed, this new area has a chess board layout whereas the old town is characterised by small squares, arches and narrow streets. In 1813 it became necessary to expand the city outside the walls to account for the growth of the population. The promenade, the Polytechnic, the establishment of the Fiera del Levante, the symbol of the fervent economic and commercial of the city belong to this century.

Back to Europe

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