Barletta

A seaside town in Puglia, at an altitude of 15 metres, with approximately 93,275 inhabitants, Barletta is a provincial capital together with Andria and Trani. It overlooks the Adriatic Sea, south of the mouth of the Ofanto, on the northern edge of the Murge. The port is busy, and fishing and tourism are also among the town's sources of income. It is a road and rail junction on the Bologna–Lecce route. Already in existence in the 3rd century BC, in Roman times Barletta, then called Barduli, was the seaside resort of nearby Canosa. After the fall of the Roman Empire it passed in turn to the Goths, the Byzantines and the Lombards. In 1190 the Normans granted it the status of city; under the Hohenstaufen, in the 13th century, it received its first privileges protecting its economic development, which flourished in the 14th and 15th centuries under the Angevins thanks to trade with the East. Sacking, earthquakes, plague and Spanish misrule left it almost in ruins by the end of the 17th century. It recovered in the second half of the 18th century. Barletta has always been the most important port on the Adriatic south of Ancona; today it is an attractive seaside town with a splendid (and little-known) historical and architectural heritage. (Treccani)

First and foremost is the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, the final destination of the Cammino. Built in the Burgundian Gothic style, it dates from the end of the 13th century. On its east side stands the 'Colossus', a bronze statue that the Venetians, who had taken it from the East, abandoned on the beach at Barletta after a shipwreck. Also worth visiting in the historic centre is the Cathedral, an important example of Apulian Romanesque architecture. Near the Cathedral, not to be missed is the famous Cantina della Disfida: here, in 1503, during the war between the Spanish and the French, 13 Italian knights led by the condottiero Ettore Fieramosca challenged and defeated the same number of French knights, led by Guy de La Motte, who had dared to accuse them of treachery and cowardice. A short distance from the historic centre, overlooking the sea, stands the vast and imposing Swabian Castle, which retains remains from the Swabian period and was rebuilt in the 16th century. Also not to be missed is the splendid Palazzo Della Marra, home to the Pinacoteca De Nittis, which houses the largest collection of paintings by the celebrated Impressionist painter Giuseppe De Nittis; this museum alone is worth the trip to Barletta. Of particular note are his landscapes painted on the banks of the Ofanto. (AV)