Bari
Encyclopedia
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari
Province of Bari
The Province of Bari is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Bari.It has an area of 5,138 km², and a total population of 1,594,109 . There are 48 comuni in the province, see Comuni of the Province of Bari...

 and of the Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...

 (or, in Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

, Puglia) region
Region
Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...

, on the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

, in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, and is well known as a port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....

 and university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...

. The city itself has a decreasing population of about 320,000, as of 2009, over 116 km², while the fast-growing urban area counts 653,028 inhabitants over 203 km². The metropolitan area
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...

 counts 1 million inhabitants.

Bari is made up of four different urban sections. To the north is the closely built old town on the peninsula between two modern harbours, with the splendid Basilica of Saint Nicholas, the Cathedral of San Sabino (1035–1171) and the Swabian Castle built for Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...

, which is now also a major nightlife district. To the south is the Murat quarter (erected by Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...

), the modern heart of the city, which is laid out on a rectangular grid-plan with a promenade on the sea and the major shopping district (the via Sparano and via Argiro).

Modern residential zones surround the centre of Bari, the result of chaotic development during the 1960s and 1970s replacing the old suburbs that had developed along roads splaying outwards from gates in the city walls. In addition, the outer suburbs have developed rapidly during the 1990s. The city has a redeveloped airport named after Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

, Karol Wojtyła Airport
Bari International Airport
Bari "Karol Wojtyła" Airport is an airport serving the city of Bari in Italy. It is approximately northwest from the town centre. The airport is also known as Palese Airport after a nearby neighbourhood....

, with connections to several European cities.

Ancient

The city was probably founded by the Peucetii
Peucetii
The Peucetii were a tribe who were living in Apulia, southern Italy, in the country behind Barion...

. Once it passed under Roman
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

 rule in the 3rd century BC, it developed strategic significance as the point of junction between the coast road and the Via Traiana
Via Traiana
300px|thumb|Via TraianaThe Via Traiana was an ancient Roman road. It was built by the emperor Trajan as an extension of the Via Appia from Beneventum, reaching Brundisium by a shorter route...

 and as a port for eastward trade; a branch road to Tarentum
Taranto
Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base....

 led from Barium. Its harbour, mentioned as early as 181 BC
181 BC
Year 181 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cethegus and Tamphilus...

, was probably the principal one of the district in ancient times
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...

, as it is at present, and was the centre of a fishery. The first historical Bishop of Bari was Gervasius
Gervasius and Protasius
Saints Gervasius and Protasius are venerated as Christian martyrs, probably of the 2nd century....

 who was noted at the Council of Sardica
Council of Sardica
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv is a Roman Catholic diocese of the Latin Rite, which includes the whole southern part of Bulgaria. The remainder of Bulgaria is comprised in the Diocese of Nicopoli. The seat of the episcopal see is in Plovdiv. The diocese is immediately subject of...

 in 347. The bishops were dependent on the Patriarch of Constantinople until the 10th century.

Middle Ages

After the devastations of the Gothic War
Gothic War
Gothic War can refer to several periods of warfare between the Roman empire and the Goths, including:*Gothic War – Greuthungs and Thervings against the Eastern Roman Empire*Gothic War – Visigoths against the Western Roman Empire...

s, under Lombard rule
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...

 a set of written regulations was established, the Consuetudines Barenses, which influenced similar written constitutions in other southern cities.

Until the arrival of the Normans
Norman conquest of southern Italy
The Norman conquest of southern Italy spanned the late eleventh and much of the twelfth centuries, involving many battles and many independent players conquering territories of their own...

, Bari continued to be governed by the Byzantines, with only occasional interruption. Throughout this period, and indeed throughout the Middle Ages, Bari served as one of the major slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

 depots of the Mediterranean, providing a central location for the trade in Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...

 slaves. The slaves were mostly captured by Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

 from Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

, the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

 from what is now Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

 and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, and the Byzantines from elsewhere in the Balkans, and were generally destined for other parts of the Byzantine Empire and (most frequently) the Muslim states surrounding the Mediterranean: the Abbasid Caliphate, the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba
Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba ruled the Iberian peninsula and part of North Africa, from the city of Córdoba, from 929 to 1031. This period was characterized by remarkable success in trade and culture; many of the masterpieces of Islamic Iberia were constructed in this period, including the famous...

, the Emirate of Sicily
Emirate of Sicily
The Emirate of Sicily was an Islamic state on the island of Sicily , which existed from 965 to 1072.-First Arab invasions of Sicily:...

, and the Fatimid Caliphate (which relied on Slavs purchased at the Bari market for its legions of Sakalaba Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...

s).

For 20 years, Bari was the center of the Emirate of Bari
Emirate of Bari
The Emirate of Bari was a short-lived Saracen state centred on the south Italian city of Bari from 847 to 871. It was the most lasting episode in the history of Islam in peninsular southern Italy....

; the city was captured by its first emir Kalfun
Kalfun
Kalfun was the first Emir of Bari during the Islamic control of that Apulian city. He was of Berber descent.Kalfun came from the Aghlabid emirate in North Africa...

 in 847, who had been part of the mercenary garrison installed there by Radelchis I of Benevento
Radelchis I of Benevento
Radelchis I was the treasurer, then prince of Benevento from 839, when he assumed the throne upon the assassination of Sicard and imprisonment of Sicard's brother, Siconulf, to his death, though in his time the principality was divided.According to the Chronica S...

. The city was conquered and the Emirate extinguished in 871, due to the efforts of Emperor Louis II and a Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 fleet. Chris Wickham states Louis spent five years campaigning to reduce then occupy Bari, "and then only to a Byzantine/Slav naval blockade"; "Louis took the credit" for the success, adding "at least in Frankish eyes", then concludes by noting that by remaining in southern Italy long after this success, he "achieved the near-impossible: an alliance against him of the Beneventans, Salernitans, Neapolitans and Spoletans; later sources include Sawadān as well." In 885, Bari became the residence of the local Byzantine catapan, or governor. The failed revolt (1009–1011) of the Lombard nobles Melus of Bari
Melus of Bari
Melus was a Lombard nobleman from the Apulian town of Bari, whose ambition to carve for himself an autonomous territory from the Byzantine catapanate of Italy in the early 11th century inadvertently sparked the Norman presence in southern Italy.Melus and his brother-in-law Dattus rebelled in 1009...

 and his brother-in-law
Brother-in-law
A brother-in-law is the brother of one's spouse, the husband of one's sibling, or the husband of one's spouse's sibling.-See also:*Affinity *Sister-in-law*Brothers in Law , a 1955 British comedy novel...

 Dattus, against the Byzantine governorate, though it was firmly repressed at the Battle of Cannae (1018)
Battle of Cannae (1018)
The second Battle of Cannae took place in 1018 between the Byzantines under the Catepan of Italy Basil Boioannes and the Lombards under Melus of Bari. The Lombards had also hired some Norman mercenaries under their leader Gilbert Buatère...

, offered their Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

 adventurer allies a first foothold in the region. In 1025, under the Archbishop Byzantius, Bari became attached to the see of Rome
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 and was granted "provincial
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...

" status.

In 1071, Bari was captured by Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard
Robert d'Hauteville, known as Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, from Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, the Fox, or the Weasel was a Norman adventurer conspicuous in the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily...

, following a three-year siege
Siege of Bari
The siege of Bari took place 1068–71, during the Middle Ages, when Norman forces, under the command of Robert Guiscard, laid siege to the city of Bari, a major stronghold of the Byzantines in Italy and the capital of the Catepanate of Italy, starting from August 5, 1068...

. Maio of Bari
Maio of Bari
Maio of Bari , a Lombard merchant's son from Bari, was the third of the great admirals of Sicily. An ammiratus ammiratorum, or "Emir of Emirs," he was the most important man in the kingdom save the king himself. After the deposition and execution of Philip of Mahdia , the admiralcy was vacant for...

 (d. 1160), a Lombard merchant's son, was the third of the great admirals of Norman Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

. The Basilica di San Nicola was founded in 1087 to receive the relics of this saint, which were surreptitiously brought from Myra
Myra
Myra is an ancient town in Lycia, where the small town of Kale is situated today in present day Antalya Province of Turkey. It was located on the river Myros , in the fertile alluvial plain between Alaca Dağ, the Massikytos range and the Aegean Sea.- Historical evidence :Although some scholars...

 in Lycia
Lycia
Lycia Lycian: Trm̃mis; ) was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...

, in Byzantine territory. The saint began his development from Saint Nicholas of Myra into Saint Nicholas of Bari and began to attract pilgrims, whose encouragement and care became central to the economy
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...

 of Bari. In 1095 Peter the Hermit
Peter the Hermit
Peter the Hermit was a priest of Amiens and a key figure during the First Crusade.-Before 1096:According to Anna Comnena, he had attempted to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem before 1096, but was prevented by the Seljuk Turks from reaching his goal and was tortured.Sources differ as to whether he...

 preached the first crusade
First Crusade
The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...

 there. In October 1098, Urban II, who had consecrated the Basilica in 1089, convened the Council of Bari
Council of Bari
During the brief period of rapproachement between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Pope, in the course of the First Crusade the Council of Bari was called by Urban II in 1098 in a stated attempt to deal with the Great Schism between the Western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church and to resolve...

, one of a series of synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...

s convoked with the intention of reconciling the Greeks and Latins on the question of the filioque clause in the Creed, which Anselm
Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...

 ably defended, seated at the pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

's side. The Greeks were not brought over to the Latin way of thinking, and the Great Schism
East-West Schism
The East–West Schism of 1054, sometimes known as the Great Schism, formally divided the State church of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western branches, which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, respectively...

 was inevitable.

A civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....

 broke out in Bari in 1117 with the murder of the archbishop, Riso. Control of Bari was seized by Grimoald Alferanites
Grimoald, Prince of Bari
Grimoald Alferanites was the prince of Bari from 1121 to 1132.After a civil war broke out in Bari, Risone, the archbishop of the city, was murdered and the princess of Taranto, Constance of France, was imprisoned at Giovinazzo by Grimoald and Alexander, Count of Conversano...

, a native Lombard, and he was elected lord in opposition to the Normans. By 1123, he had increased ties with Byzantium
Byzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...

 and Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 and taken the title gratia Dei et beati Nikolai barensis princeps. Grimoald increased the cult of St Nicholas in his city. He later did homage to Roger II of Sicily
Roger II of Sicily
Roger II was King of Sicily, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, later became Duke of Apulia and Calabria , then King of Sicily...

, but rebelled and was defeated in 1132.

Bari was occupied by Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos was a Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean....

 between 1155–1158. In 1246, Bari was sacked and razed to the ground; Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...

 and King of Sicily, repaired the fortress of Baris but it was subsequently destroyed several times. Bari recovered each time.

Early modern period

Isabella di Aragona, princess of Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 and widow of the Duke of Milan Gian Galeazzo Sforza
Gian Galeazzo Sforza
Gian Galeazzo Sforza was the sixth Duke of Milan.Born in Abbiategrasso, he was only 7 years old when in 1476 his father, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, was assassinated and Gian Galeazzo became the Duke of Milan...

, enlarged the castle, which she made her residence, 1499–1524. After the death of Bona Sforza
Bona Sforza
Bona Sforza was a member of the powerful Milanese House of Sforza. In 1518, she became the second wife of Sigismund I the Old, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and became the Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania.She was the third child of Gian Galeazzo Sforza and his wife...

, Queen of Poland, Bari came to be included in the Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...

 and its history contracted to a local one, as malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

 became endemic in the region. Bari was wakened from its provincial somnolence by Napoleon's brother-in-law Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...

. As Napoleonic King of Naples, Murat ordered the building in 1808 of a new section of the city, laid out on a rational grid plan
Grid plan
The grid plan, grid street plan or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid...

, which bears his name today as the Murattiano. Under this stimulus, Bari developed into the most important port city of the region. The legacy of Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....

 can be seen in the imposing architecture along the seafront.

The 1943 chemical warfare disaster

Through a tragic coincidence intended by neither of the opposing sides in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Bari gained the unwelcome distinction of being the only European city to experience chemical warfare
Chemical warfare
Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together make up NBC, the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical...

 in the course of that war.

On the night of December 2, 1943, German Junkers Ju 88
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...

 bombers attacked the port of Bari, which was a key supply centre for Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 forces fighting their way up the Italian Peninsula
Italian Peninsula
The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula is one of the three large peninsulas of Southern Europe , spanning from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname Lo Stivale...

. Several Allied ships were sunk in the overcrowded harbour, including the U.S. Liberty ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...

 John Harvey
John Harvey (ship)
The John Harvey was a U.S. World War II Liberty Ship carrying a secret cargo of mustard gas, whose sinking by German planes in December 1943 at the port of Bari in south Italy caused the single release of chemical weapons in the course of the war by the Allies.The John Harvey was built at the...

, which was carrying mustard gas; mustard gas was also reported to have been stacked on the quayside awaiting transport. The chemical agent was intended for use if German forces initiated chemical warfare. The presence of the gas was highly classified, and authorities ashore had no knowledge of it. This increased the number of fatalities, since physicians—who had no idea that they were dealing with the effects of mustard gas—prescribed treatment proper for those suffering from exposure and immersion, which proved fatal in many cases. Because rescuers were unaware they were dealing with gas casualties, many additional casualties were caused among the rescuers through contact with the contaminated skin and clothing of those more directly exposed to the gas.

On the orders of allied leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

, Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

 and Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

, records were destroyed and the whole affair was kept secret for many years after the war. The U.S. records of the attack were declassified in 1959, but the episode remained obscure until 1967. Indeed, even today, many "Baresi" are still unaware of what happened and why. Additionally, there is considerable dispute as to the number of fatalities. In one account: "[S]ixty-nine deaths were attributed in whole or in part to the mustard gas, most of them American merchant seamen;" Others put the count as high as, "more than one thousand Allied servicemen and more than one thousand Italian civilians." Part of the confusion and controversy derives from the fact that the German attack, which became nicknamed "The Little Pearl Harbor" after the Japanese air attack
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

 on the American naval base in Hawaii, was highly destructive and lethal in itself, apart from the effects of the gas. Attribution of the causes of death to the gas, as distinct from the direct effects of the German attack, has proved far from easy.

The affair is the subject of two books: Disaster at Bari, by Glenn B. Infield, and Nightmare in Bari: The World War II Liberty Ship Poison Gas Disaster and Coverup, by Gerald Reminick.

The Balkan Air Force
Balkan Air Force
The Balkan Air Force was a late-World War II Allied air formation.-History:The formation was based at Bari in Italy, and activated on 7 June 1944 from AHQ 'G' Force to simplify command arrangements for the air support of Special Operations Executive-operations in the Balkans, i.e. across the...

 supporting the partisans in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

 was based at Bari.

Language

Bari, while today an industrialised port and university city, still maintains strong traditions based on its patron Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...

. Bari is known throughout Italy for its unique, often crude, spoken dialect, particularly in the Old Town, parts of which originated from a pidgin
Pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common. It is most commonly employed in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different from the language of the...

 between Italian and Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 fishermen in the past, and which fishermen in Greece can still understand today.

Main sights

Basilica of Saint Nicholas

The Basilica di San Nicola (Saint Nicholas) was founded in 1087 to receive the relics of this saint, which were brought from Myra
Myra
Myra is an ancient town in Lycia, where the small town of Kale is situated today in present day Antalya Province of Turkey. It was located on the river Myros , in the fertile alluvial plain between Alaca Dağ, the Massikytos range and the Aegean Sea.- Historical evidence :Although some scholars...

 in Lycia
Lycia
Lycia Lycian: Trm̃mis; ) was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...

, and now lie beneath the altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...

 in the crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....

, where are buried the Topins, which are a legacy of old thieves converted to good faith
Good faith
In philosophy, the concept of Good faith—Latin bona fides “good faith”, bona fide “in good faith”—denotes sincere, honest intention or belief, regardless of the outcome of an action; the opposed concepts are bad faith, mala fides and perfidy...

. The church is one of the four Palatine churches of Apulia (the others being the cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

s of Acquaviva delle Fonti
Acquaviva delle Fonti
Acquaviva delle Fonti is a town and comune in the province of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy.-Buildings:Acquaviva Cathedral is located here, since 1986 a co-cathedral in the Diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti.-Famous people from Acquaviva delle Fonti:*Roberto Colaninno,...

 and Altamura, and the church of Monte Sant'Angelo
Monte Sant'Angelo
Monte Sant'Angelo is a town and comune of Apulia, southern Italy, in the province of Foggia, about 15 km north of Manfredonia by road and 4 km west of Mattinata, on the southern slopes of Monte Gargano.-History:...

 sul Gargano).

Bari Cathedral

Bari Cathedral
Bari Cathedral
Bari Cathedral is the cathedral of Bari, senior to, though less famous than, the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Bari-Bitonto, as it was previously of the archbishops, earlier bishops, of Bari...

, dedicated to Saint Sabinus of Canosa (San Sabino), was begun in Byzantine style
Byzantine architecture
Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. The empire gradually emerged as a distinct artistic and cultural entity from what is today referred to as the Roman Empire after AD 330, when the Roman Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire east from Rome to...

 in 1034, but was destroyed in the sack of the city of 1156. A new building was thus built between 1170–1178, partially inspired by that of San Nicola. Of the original edifice, only traces of the pavement are today visible in the transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...

.

An important example of Apulian Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

, the church has a simple Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 façade with three portals; in the upper part is a rose window decorated with monstruous and fantasy figures. The interior has a nave and two aisles, divided by sixteen columns with arcades. The crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....

 houses the relics of Saint Sabinus and the icon of the Madonna Odigitria.

The interior and the façade were redecorated in Baroque style
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 during the 18th century, but these additions were removed in a 1950s restoration.

Petruzzelli Theatre

The Petruzzelli Theatre
Teatro Petruzzelli
The Teatro Petruzzelli is the largest theatre of the city of Bari and the fourth Italian theatre by size.-The birth and the golden age:The history of the Teatro Petruzzelli of Bari begins when Onofrio and Antonio Petruzzelli, traders and ship builders of Trieste presented the design of the theatre...

 is one of the grandest opera house
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...

s in Italy after La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...

 in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 and the San Carlo Theatre
Teatro di San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo is an opera house in Naples, Italy. It is the oldest continuously active such venue in Europe.Founded by the Bourbon Charles VII of Naples of the Spanish branch of the dynasty, the theatre was inaugurated on 4 November 1737 — the king's name day — with a performance...

 in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

. Host to many famous opera and ballet greats throughout the 20th century, before the big arson of 27 October 1991, which destroyed it nearly all. The last 4 October 2009, after 18 years, the theatre was reopened.

Swabian Castle

The Norman-Hohenstaufen Castle, widely known as the Castello Svevo (Swabian Castle), was built by Roger II of Sicily
Roger II of Sicily
Roger II was King of Sicily, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, later became Duke of Apulia and Calabria , then King of Sicily...

 around 1131. Destroyed in 1156, it was rebuilt by Frederick II of Hohenstaufen
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...

. The castle now serves as a gallery for a variety of temporary exhibitions in the city.

Pinacoteca Provinciale di Bari

The Pinacoteca Provinciale di Bari
Pinacoteca Provinciale di Bari
The Pinacoteca Provinciale di Bari or The Provincial Pinacotheca in Bari is an important Italian Artistic Paintings Museum .-History:...

 (Provincial Pinacotheca in Bari) is the most important paintings museum in Puglia. It was established in 1928 and there are kept many important paintings from the 15th century to the contemporary art.

The Russian Church

The Russian Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...

, in the Carrassi district of Bari, was built in the early 20th century to welcome Russian pilgrims who came to the city to visit the church of Saint Nicholas in the old city where the relics of the saint remain.

Built on a large area of council-owned land, the city council and Italian national government were recently involved in a trade-off
Trade-off
A trade-off is a situation that involves losing one quality or aspect of something in return for gaining another quality or aspect...

 with the Putin government in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, exchanging the piece of land on which the church stands, for, albeit indirectly, a military barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...

 near Bari's central railway station
Central Station
-Railway stations:A central station is generally the principal passenger railway station of major towns and cities which have multiple stations, or a station owned by a railway with "Central" in its name, such as the English Great Central Railway....

. The hand over was seen as building bridges between the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...

.

Barivecchia

Barivecchia, or Old Bari, is a sprawl of streets and passageways making up the section of the city to the north of the modern Murat area. Barivecchia was until fairly recently considered a no-go area
No-go area
A no-go area or no-go zone is a region where the ruling authorities have lost control and are unable to enforce the rule of law.-Rhodesia:The term 'no-go area' has a military origin and was first used in the context of the Bush War in Rhodesia...

 by many of Bari's residents due to the high levels of petty crime
Misdemeanor
A misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...

. A large-scale redevelopment plan beginning with a new sewerage system and followed by the development of the two main squares, Piazza Mercantile and Piazza Ferrarese has seen the opening of many pubs and other venues. This has been welcomed by many who claim that the social life of the city, and in particular the experience for tourists in Bari, has been improved and that jobs and revenue have been created. Others point out the effects of late-night noise in the enclosed squares and criticise development based mainly on pubs and other such premises.

Se Parigi avesse il mare, sarebbe una piccola Bari’ (if Paris had the sea, it would be a little Bari). This popular saying tells you more about the local sense of humour than it does about the city, but Bari has a surprising amount of charm, particularly Barivecchia, its increasingly chic medieval old town.

Other

  • Teatro Petruzzelli
    Teatro Petruzzelli
    The Teatro Petruzzelli is the largest theatre of the city of Bari and the fourth Italian theatre by size.-The birth and the golden age:The history of the Teatro Petruzzelli of Bari begins when Onofrio and Antonio Petruzzelli, traders and ship builders of Trieste presented the design of the theatre...

    .
  • Teatro Margherita
    Teatro Margherita
    Teatro Margherita is a theatre in the city of Bari, Apulia on the east coast of Italy. It opened on September 5, 1910....

    .
  • Teatro Piccinni
    Teatro Piccinni
    Teatro Piccinni is a theatre in the city of Bari, Apulia on the east coast of Italy. It was founded in 1854 and opened on 30 May of that year. -References:...

    .
  • Orto Botanico dell'Università di Bari
    Orto Botanico dell'Università di Bari
    The Orto Botanico dell'Università di Bari , also known as the Orto Botanico di Bari and Hortus Botanicus Barensis, is a botanical garden operated by the University of Bari, and located at via Orabona 4 I-70126 Bari, Apulia, Italy. It is open Monday through Friday mornings.The garden was established...

    , a botanical garden
    Botanical garden
    A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

    .
  • Santa Chiara, once church of the Teutonic Knights
    Teutonic Knights
    The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...

     (as Santa maria degli Alemanni) and now closed. It was restored in 1539.
  • The build of Acquedotto Pugliese
  • The medieval church of San Marco dei Veneziani, with a notable rose window
    Rose window
    A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...

     in the façade.
  • San Giorgio degli Armeni.
  • Santa Teresa dei Maschi, the main Baroque church in the city (1690–1696).
  • Pane e Pomodoro Beach is the main beach within reach of the city. Its reputation has for several years suffered from the apparent presence of asbestos from nearby industrial plants.
  • The eastern seafront skyline of Bari had, until spring 2006, been dominated by the monsterous apartment complex known as Punta Perotti – a creation of the Matarrese construction empire. Clearly in violation of several fundamental Italian building regulations, Punta Perotti became the focus of a political and environmental movement
    Environmental movement
    The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....

     calling for its demolition. After years of legal wrangling between the Matarrese firm, Bari Council and environmental groups such as Save the Earth, the court ruled in favour of its demolition and thousands gathered on the Bari seafront in April 2006 to see the event.
  • The grid-shaped Murat city Centre of Bari is said to be the largest shopping centre
    Shopping mall
    A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...

     in all of Italy and contains a large number of high street stores and smaller shops with particular attention to high fashion and tailoring. Bari has recently seen a proliferation of out of town hypermarkets with all manner of shops and superstores attached to them.
  • Bari features two sea harbours: the Old Port as well as the New Port. The latter was constructed in 1850 and can accommodate any kind of ship—including large cargo laden vessels. It can also handle any type of traffic.

Quarters

Municipality Quarters
I Palese Macchie & Santo Spirito-Catino-San Pio
II San Paolo & Stanic
III Picone & Poggiofranco
IV Carbonara-Santa Rita, Ceglie del Campo & Loseto
V Japigia, Torre a Mare & San Giorgio
VI Carrassi, San Pasquale & Mungivacca
VII Madonnella
VIII Libertà & Marconi-San Girolamo-Fesca
Marconi-San Girolamo-Fesca
The Marconi-San Girolamo-Fesca, improperly named simply San Girolamo, is a quarter of Bari, the capital of Apulia. The quarter has about 12,900 residents.-Geography:...

IX Murat & San Nicola

Shown above are the twenty quarters of Bari: these twenty neighbourhoods or "quartiere
Quartiere
A quartiere is a subdivision of certain Italian towns. The word is from quarto, or fourth, and was thus properly used only for towns divided into four neighborhoods. The English word "quarter" to mean a neighborhood A quartiere (plural: quartieri) is a subdivision of certain Italian towns. The...

" as they are known, are further divided into nine governmental community boards.

Climate

Bari enjoys a semi-arid Mediterranean climate
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...

 with mild winters and warm to hot, dry summers. Snowfall in winter is possible.
During the summer of 2008 temperatures reached as high as 42 °C (108 °F).

Fiera del Levante

The Fiera del Levante is said to be the largest trade fair
Trade fair
A trade fair is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products, service, study activities of rivals and examine recent market trends and opportunities...

 in the Adriatic
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

 and involves exhibitions from many sectors and industries. Held in September in the Fiera site on the west side of Bari city center, the Fiera attracts many exhibitors from Italy, around the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

, its trade corridors to the east and beyond. Mainly focused on agriculture and industry, there are also stalls, exhibitions and presentations by a wide variety of companies and organizations in many fields. There is also a "Fair of Nations" which displays handcrafted and locally produced goods from all over the world.

This year's Fiera also saw an "Expo Fishing" which brought together fishing methods, tackle and know-how from across the Mediterranean.

Cuisine and gastronomy

Bari's cuisine, one of Italy's most traditional and noteworthy, is based on three typical agricultural products found within the surrounding Puglia region, namely wheat, olive oil and wine. Bari cuisine is also enriched by the wide variety of fruit and vegetables produced locally. Local flour is used in homemade bread and pasta production including, most notably, the famous orecchiette
Orecchiette
Orecchiette is a kind of home-made pasta typical of Puglia or Apulia, a region of Southern Italy. Its name comes from its shape, which reminds one of a small ear. In Italian orecchio means ear, and the suffix 'etto' means 'small'. In the vernacular of Taranto it is called recchietedd, or...

hat-shaped pasta, recchietelle or strascinate, chiancarelle (orecchiette of different sizes) and cavatelli
Cavatelli
Cavatelli are a type of pasta. It has two meanings: the most common meaning is small pasta shells that look like miniature hot dog buns. It is similar in shape to casarecci, but shorter in length. The name is less frequently used for a type of dumpling made with ricotta.In Italy, cavatelli...

.

Homemade dough is also used for baked calzoni stuffed with onions, anchovies, capers and olives; fried panzerotti with mozzarella, simple focaccia alla barese with tomatoes, little savoury taralli
Taralli
Taralli are an Italian snack food, common all over the southern half of the Italian Peninsula. A cracker similar in texture to a breadstick or a pretzel, taralli can be sweet or savory. Sweet taralli are sometimes glazed with sugar. Savory taralli may be flavored with onion, garlic, sesame seeds,...

, friselle and sgagliozze, fried slices of polenta all make up the Bari culinary reportoire.

Olive oil and garlic are widely in use. Vegetable minestrone, chick peas, broad beans
Vicia faba
This article refers to the Broad Bean plant. For Broadbean the company, see Broadbean, Inc.Vicia faba, the Broad Bean, Fava Bean, Field Bean, Bell Bean or Tic Bean, is a species of bean native to north Africa and southwest Asia, and extensively cultivated elsewhere. A variety is provisionally...

, chickory, celery and fennel are also often served as first courses or side dish
Side dish
A side dish, sometimes referred to as a side order or simply a side, is a food item that accompanies the entrée or main course at a meal.-Common types:...

es.

Meat dishes and the local Barese ragù
Ragù
In Italian cookery, a ragù is a meat-based sauce, which is traditionally served with pasta.Typical Italian ragù include ragù alla bolognese , ragù alla napoletana , and ragù alla Barese...

often include lamb, pork and often horse meat, considered something of a local delicacy.

Pasta al forno
Al forno
In cooking, al forno or al forno di legna, are both Italian expressions describing food that is "at/from the oven". Baked pizza, breads and pasta dishes are often part of this genre...

, a baked pasta dish, is very popular in Bari and was historically a Sunday dish, or a dish used at the start of Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...

 when all the rich ingredients such as eggs and pork had to be used for religious reasons. The recipe commonly consists of penne
Penne
Penne is a type of pasta with cylinder-shaped pieces. Penne is the plural form of the Italian penna, deriving from Latin penna . In Italy, penne are produced in two main variants: "penne lisce" and "penne rigate" , the latter having ridges on each penna...

or similar tubular pasta shapes, a tomato sauce, small beef and pork meatballs and halved hard boiled eggs; but different families have variations.
The pasta is then topped with mozzarella
Mozzarella
Mozzarella is an Italian Traditional Speciality Guaranteed food product. The term is used for several kinds of Italian cheeses that are made using spinning and then cutting :...

or similar cheese and then baked in the oven to make the dish have its trademark crispy texture.

Bari, being the capital of an important fishing area, offers a range of fresh fish and seafood, often eaten raw. Octopus, sea urchins and mussels feature heavily. Indeed, perhaps Bari's most famous dish is the oven-baked Riso, patate e cozze (rice, with potatoes and mussels).

Bari and its province, not to mention the Puglia region, have a range of notable wines including Primitivo, Castel del Monte and Moscato
Muscat (grape and wine)
The Muscat variety of grapes of the species Vitis vinifera is widely grown for wine, raisins and table grapes. Their color ranges from white to near black. Muscat almost always has a pronounced sweet floral aroma. Muscat grapes are grown around the world...

 di Trani.

Administrative divisions

Bari is separated into nine administrative divisions:
  • I: Palese Macchie, Santo Spirito, Catino, San Pio
  • II: San Paolo, Stanic
  • III: Picone, Poggiofranco
  • IV: Carbonara, Santa Rita, Ceglie del Campo, Loseto
  • V: Japigia, Torre a Mare, San Giorgio
  • VI: Carrassi, San Pasquale, Mungivacca
  • VII: Madonnella
  • VIII: Libertà, Marconi, San Girolamo, Fesca
    Marconi-San Girolamo-Fesca
    The Marconi-San Girolamo-Fesca, improperly named simply San Girolamo, is a quarter of Bari, the capital of Apulia. The quarter has about 12,900 residents.-Geography:...

  • IX: Murat, San Nicola

Sport

Local football club A.S. Bari
A.S. Bari
Associazione Sportiva Bari is an Italian football club founded in 1908, they are based in Bari, Apulia and plays in Serie B. The club have spent many seasons bouncing between the top two divisions in Italian football, Serie A and Serie B....

, currently competing in Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...

, plays in the impressive Stadio San Nicola
Stadio San Nicola
The Stadio San Nicola is a multi-use all-seater stadium designed by Renzo Piano in Bari, Italy. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Associazione Sportiva Bari. It hosted the 1991 European Cup Final, won by Red Star Belgrade. The stadium itself resembles a...

, an architecturally innovative 58,000-seater stadium purpose-built for the 1990 FIFA World Cup
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...

. The stadium also hosted the 1991 European Cup Final
1991 European Cup Final
The 1991 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Stadio San Nicola in Bari, Italy, on 29 May 1991, that saw Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia defeat Olympique Marseille of France in a penalty shootout. After normal time and extra time could not separate the two sides, the match was to be...

.

Demographics

In 2007, there were 325,052 people residing in Bari (in which slightly 1.6 million live in the greater Bari area), located in the province of Bari, Puglia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...

, of whom 48.1% were male and 51.9% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 17.90 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 19.08 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06 percent (minors) and 19.94 percent (pensioners). The average age of Bari residents is 42 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Bari grew by 2.69 percent, while Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 as a whole grew by 3.56 percent. The current birth rate
Birth rate
Crude birth rate is the nativity or childbirths per 1,000 people per year . Another word used interchangeably with "birth rate" is "natality". When the crude birth rate is subtracted from the crude death rate, it reveals the rate of natural increase...

 of Bari is 8.67 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.

As of 2006, 98.34% of the population was of Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

 descent. The largest immigrant group came from other Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an nations (particularly those from Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

 and Greece): 0.68% and East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

: 0.42%. Immigrants from North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

 and East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

 make up an even smaller portion of the population.

People associated with Bari

  • Giovanni Alemanno
  • nna Dello Russ'

  • Emanuele Arciuli
    Emanuele Arciuli
    Emanuele Arciuli is an Italian classical pianist.- Biography :He received his diploma from the Conservatory in Bari. After graduation, he continued his piano studies with Vincenzo Vitale, Paolo Bordoni and Leon Fleisher, and attended master classes with Gyorgy Sandor, Michel Dalberto and Maurizio...

  • Lino Banfi
    Lino Banfi
    Lino Banfi is an Italian film actor and presenter. He has appeared in over 100 films since 1960.-Biography:...

  • Pope Benedict XIII
    Pope Benedict XIII
    -Footnotes:...

  • Gianrico Carofiglio
    Gianrico Carofiglio
    Gianrico Carofiglio is a novelist and former anti-Mafia judge in the Italian city of Bari. His debut novel, Involuntary Witness, was published in 2002 and translated into English in 2005 by Patrick Creagh and published by the Bitter Lemon Press and has been adapted as the basis for a popular...

  • Antonio Cassano
    Antonio Cassano
    Antonio Cassano is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club Milan as a striker. Nicknamed Il Gioiello di Bari Vecchia , he is known for his short temper as much as his ability on the pitch, which led to the coining of the neologism Cassanata by his former coach, Fabio Capello, in November...

  • Riccardo Cucciolla
    Riccardo Cucciolla
    Riccardo Cucciolla was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1953 and 1999. He won the Best Actor Award at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival for the film Sacco e Vanzetti....

  • Niccolò dell'Arca
  • Franco Giordano
    Franco Giordano
    Francesco "Franco" Giordano is an Italian politician.Born in Bari, he became a member of the Italian Communist Party in 1974. In 1985-1987 he was member of the national leadership of Federation of Young Italian Communists, and, in 1987-1990, of the local PCI leadership of the province of Bari...

  • Ivan Iusco
    Ivan Iusco
    Ivan Iusco, is an Italian composer, producer and founder of the music label Minus Habens Records.Since 1999 he has written ten film scores...


  • Gaetano Latilla
    Gaetano Latilla
    Gaetano Latilla was an Italian opera composer, the most important of the period immediately preceding Niccolò Piccinni .Latilla was born in Bari, and studied at the Loreto Conservatory in Naples...

  • Michele Antonio Iannuzzi
  • Guido Marzulli
    Guido Marzulli
    -Biography:Guido Marzulli was born in Bari, July 8, 1943.His father and his mother were also worthy painters....

  • Antonio Matarrese
    Antonio Matarrese
    Antonio Matarrese is an Italian sports manager for soccer.-Career:Matarrese graduated with a degree in business administration and he is Certified Public Accountant. He is CEO of the S. Matarrese Plc Group...

  • Gianvito Amoruso
  • Domenico Modugno
    Domenico Modugno
    Domenico Modugno was an Italian singer, songwriter, actor, and later in life, a member of the Italian Parliament. He is known for his 1958 international hit song "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu "...

  • Aldo Moro
    Aldo Moro
    Aldo Moro was an Italian politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Italy, from 1963 to 1968, and then from 1974 to 1976. He was one of Italy's longest-serving post-war Prime Ministers, holding power for a combined total of more than six years....

  • Joe Orlando
    Joe Orlando
    Joseph Orlando was a prolific illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades...

  • Anna Oxa
    Anna Oxa
    Anna Oxa is an Italian singer of Albanian descent, well-known through her numerous appearances in the televised Italian song contest, the Sanremo Music Festival. In 1978, at the age of sixteen, she took second place with the song "Un'emozione da poco" at the Sanremo Festival...


  • Pino Pascali
    Pino Pascali
    Pino Pascali was an Italian artist, sculptor, set designer and performer.-Biography:Pino Pascali was born in Bari, Italy in 1936 and moved to Rome in 1955 to learn scene painting and set design at the Academy of Art...

  • Nico Perrone
    Nico Perrone
    Nico Perrone is an Italian essayist, historian and journalist. He firstly discovered papers on the plot for killing Enrico Mattei, the Italian state tycoon for oil in the 1950s....

  • Niccolò Piccinni
    Niccolò Piccinni
    Niccolò Piccinni was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure, even to music lovers today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the Neapolitan opera buffa—of his day...

     (1728–1800)
  • Fabio Mastrangelo
  • Sergio Rubini
    Sergio Rubini
    - Biography :He was born in Grumo Appula but soon moved to Rome to study acting. After some roles in theater, he debuted in a feature film with Figlio mio infinitamente caro , which was followed by Desiderando Giulia and Il caso Moro...

  • Gaetano Salvemini
    Gaetano Salvemini
    Gaetano Salvemini was an Italian anti-fascist politician, historian and writer.- Biography :Salvemini was born in Molfetta, Apulia....

  • Bona Sforza
    Bona Sforza
    Bona Sforza was a member of the powerful Milanese House of Sforza. In 1518, she became the second wife of Sigismund I the Old, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and became the Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania.She was the third child of Gian Galeazzo Sforza and his wife...

  • Pope Urban VI
    Pope Urban VI
    Pope Urban VI , born Bartolomeo Prignano, was Pope from 1378 to 1389.-Biography:Born in Itri, he was a devout monk and learned casuist, trained at Avignon. On March 21, 1364, he was consecrated Archbishop of Acerenza in the Kingdom of Naples...

  • Nichi Vendola
    Nichi Vendola
    Nicola "Nichi" Vendola is an Italian left-wing politician and currently the President of Apulia.-Life:Born in Terlizzi, province of Bari , Vendola had been a member of the Italian Communist Youth Federation since the age of 14; he studied literature in university, presenting a dissertation about...

  • Mario Nuzzolese
    Mario Nuzzolese
    Mario Nuzzolese , more commonly known as “Professore” for his richness of culture, technical knowledges and enthusiasm in teaching.He was an Italian soldier, teacher and journalist...

  • Pietro Leonida Laforgia


Twin towns—Sister cities

Bari is twinned
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

 with:
Baalbek
Baalbek
Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...

, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

 Batumi
Batumi
Batumi is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. Sometimes considered Georgia's second capital, with a population of 121,806 , Batumi serves as an important port and a commercial center. It is situated in a subtropical zone, rich in...

, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

, People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...

, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 Durrës
Durrës
Durrës is the second largest city of Albania located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is one of the most ancient and economically important cities of Albania. Durres is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian ports of Bari...

, Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...

, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 Banja Luka
Banja Luka
-History:The name "Banja Luka" was first mentioned in a document dated February 6, 1494, but Banja Luka's history dates back to ancient times. There is a substantial evidence of the Roman presence in the region during the first few centuries A.D., including an old fort "Kastel" in the centre of...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

 Patras
Patras
Patras , ) is Greece's third largest urban area and the regional capital of West Greece, located in northern Peloponnese, 215 kilometers west of Athens...

, Greece Bandung
Bandung
Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...

, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 Sumqayıt
Sumqayit
Sumgayit is one of the largest cities in Azerbaijan, located near the Caspian Sea, about 31 kilometres away from the capital, Baku. The city has a population of 308,700 , making it the third-largest city in Azerbaijan after the capital Baku and Ganja. The city has a territory of 83 km². It...

, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...


In popular culture

Bari is mentioned in the 1995 film The Bridges of Madison County
The Bridges of Madison County (film)
The Bridges of Madison County is a 1995 American romantic drama film based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Robert James Waller. It was produced by Amblin Entertainment and Malpaso Productions, and distributed by Warner Bros. Entertainment...

starring Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...

 and Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...

. In the film Francesca tells Robert that she comes from a town nobody ever heard of called Bari. But he tells her that he has been to Bari and that he got off the train at Bari because it looked pretty.

See also

  • Antivari (means 'opposite Bari')
  • Bari International Airport
    Bari International Airport
    Bari "Karol Wojtyła" Airport is an airport serving the city of Bari in Italy. It is approximately northwest from the town centre. The airport is also known as Palese Airport after a nearby neighbourhood....

  • Bari Centrale railway station
    Bari Centrale railway station
    Bari Centrale is the main railway station of the Italian city of Bari, capital of Apulia. It is one of the most important "FS" stations of Italy.-History:The station was first built in 1864 and between 1865 and 1906 5 more platforms were added...

  • Province of Bari
    Province of Bari
    The Province of Bari is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Bari.It has an area of 5,138 km², and a total population of 1,594,109 . There are 48 comuni in the province, see Comuni of the Province of Bari...

  • Basilica di San Nicola (Bari)
  • Polytechnic University of Bari
    Polytechnic University of Bari
    The Polytechnic of Bari is a university located in Bari, Italy. It was founded in 1990 and is organized in 3 Faculties.-Organization:These are the 3 faculties in which the university is divided into:* Faculty of Architecture...

  • University of Bari
    University of Bari
    The University of Bari is a university located in Bari, Italy. It was founded in 1925 and is organized in 12 Faculties.-Organization:These are the 13 faculties in which the university is divided into:* Faculty of Agricultural Science...


Further reading

  • Vito Antonio Melchiorre. 2001. Note storiche su Bari.
  • Glenn B. Infield. 1973. Disaster at Bari. Ace Books. New York, N.Y.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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