Gravina in Puglia
Encyclopedia
Gravina in Puglia is an Italian
municipality
in the Southern Italian Province of Bari
, site along a river of the same name
in the Western Murgia
geographical area of Apulia
.
It is the seat of the Alta Murgia National Park.
The name stem from the motto given to the city by Emperor Frederick II, Grana dat et vina (Latina: "It gives grain and wine").
n town, which was wrested from the Samnites by the Romans
during the 3rd Samnite War (305
or 306 BCE). It was a town in the interior of Apulia. It is noticed by Strabo
as the frontier town of the Peucetii
, and its name is noticed by Pliny
among the municipal towns of Apulia. The Via Appia, which linked Rome
to Brindisi
, passed through Gravina. The Itineraries place it 20 miles from Venusia, on the branch of the Appian Way which led direct to Tarentum
.
Later it was ruled by Byzantines, Lombards
and North African Muslims.
The city was the site of a Norman countship in the Hauteville
Kingdom of Sicily and in the later Kingdom of Naples
. A famous count of the former was Gilbert
, who was sent by his cousin, the Queen regent Margaret of Navarre to the peninsula to combat the Holy Roman Emperor
. In the latter period it was the hereditary fief of John, Duke of Durazzo
. The Normans called the town Garagnone or Garaynone.
From 1386 to 1816 it was a fief of the Orsini family: the pope Benedict XIII
(Pietro Francesco Orsini) was born here in 1649. The feudal oppression led to numerous riots, in particular from 1789 until the unification of Italy (1861).
Gravina was partly destroyed by Allied bombings during World War II
.
Gravina has also some noteworthy churches carved out from the tuff
rocks (Chiese rupestri), including the 10th century San Michele delle Grotte. It has also a well preserved Roman bridge.
s in Europe: the Saint George's Fair has been held each April since 1294.
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...
municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in the Southern Italian 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...
, site along a river of the same name
Gravina (river)
The Gravina is an Italian river that flows into the Bradano. Its source is near Poggiorsini in the province of Bari. It flows southeast and crosses into the province of Matera before emptying into the Bradano a short distance after the Bradano exits Lago di San Giuliano.-References:...
in the Western Murgia
Murgia
Murgia is a sub-region of Apulia in southern Italy, corresponding to a karst topographic plateau of rectangular shape, occupying the central area of the region. The name stems from the Latin murex, meaning "sharp stone"....
geographical area of 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...
.
It is the seat of the Alta Murgia National Park.
The name stem from the motto given to the city by Emperor Frederick II, Grana dat et vina (Latina: "It gives grain and wine").
History
The town was founded by the Greeks during the colonization of Greater Greece, as a polis with the right of a mint of his own. Diodorus notes it as an ApuliaApulia
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...
n town, which was wrested from the Samnites by the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
during the 3rd Samnite War (305
305 BC
Year 305 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Megellus and Augurinus...
or 306 BCE). It was a town in the interior of Apulia. It is noticed by Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
as the frontier town of the Peucetii
Peucetii
The Peucetii were a tribe who were living in Apulia, southern Italy, in the country behind Barion...
, and its name is noticed by Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
among the municipal towns of Apulia. The Via Appia, which linked Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
to Brindisi
Brindisi
Brindisi is a city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea.Historically, the city has played an important role in commerce and culture, due to its position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city...
, passed through Gravina. The Itineraries place it 20 miles from Venusia, on the branch of the Appian Way which led direct to Tarentum
Tarentum
Tarentum may refer to:* Taranto, Apulia, Italy; on the site of the ancient Roman city Tarentum; formerly the Greek colony Taras. See also: History of Taranto* Tarentum, Pennsylvania, United States** Tarentum Bridge, in the above place...
.
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...
and North African Muslims.
The city was the site of a Norman countship in the Hauteville
Hauteville family
The family of the Hauteville was a petty baronial Norman family from the Cotentin which rose to prominence in Europe, Asia, and Africa through its conquests in the Mediterranean, especially Southern Italy and Sicily...
Kingdom of Sicily and in the later 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...
. A famous count of the former was Gilbert
Gilbert, Count of Gravina
Gilbert was a Norman Count of Gravina from 1159.He was a cousin of Margaret of Navarre, the queen of Sicily. He arrived in Sicily sometime around 1159 and, through Margaret's influence, was created Count of Gravina in Apulia immediately....
, who was sent by his cousin, the Queen regent Margaret of Navarre to the peninsula to combat the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
. In the latter period it was the hereditary fief of John, Duke of Durazzo
John, Duke of Durazzo
John of Gravina , Count of Gravina 1315–1336, Duke of Durazzo 1332–1336 and ruler of the Kingdom of Albania , was a younger son of Charles II of Naples and Maria of Hungary....
. The Normans called the town Garagnone or Garaynone.
From 1386 to 1816 it was a fief of the Orsini family: the pope Benedict XIII
Pope Benedict XIII
-Footnotes:...
(Pietro Francesco Orsini) was born here in 1649. The feudal oppression led to numerous riots, in particular from 1789 until the unification of Italy (1861).
Gravina was partly destroyed by Allied bombings during 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...
.
Main sights
- The cathedralCathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
of Gravina (11th-12th centuries) was built by the Normans in RomanesqueRomanesque architectureRomanesque 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,...
style. Destroyed by fires and earthquakes in the mid-15th century, It houses a splendid reliquaryReliquaryA reliquary is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures...
an arm of the English Thomas BecketThomas BecketThomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
, obtained by Bishop Roberto in 1179. - The remains of Frederick II's castle, site on a hill nearby the city, orinigary more a base for bird hunting. According to Giorgio VasariGiorgio VasariGiorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:...
, it was designed in 1231 by one Fuccio from Florence. - Church of San Francesco (late 15th-early 16th century)
- Church of Sant'Agostino, with a simple white façade
- The BaroqueBaroqueThe 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...
church of Madonna delle Grazie, with an unusual façade sporting a rose windowRose windowA 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...
surrounded by a large carved eagle, coat of arms of the GiustinianiGiustinianiGiustiniani is the name of a prominent Italian family which originally belonged to Venice, but also established itself subsequently in Genoa, and at various times had representatives in Naples, Corsica and in the islands of the Archipelago, where they had been the last Genoese rulers of the Aegean...
. - San Sebastiano, a noteworthy Renaissance edifice. It has a nave and two aisles separated by pilasters. Notable is also the cloister of the annexed convent, with capitals decorated with animal and vegetable figures.
Gravina has also some noteworthy churches carved out from the tuff
Tuff
Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...
rocks (Chiese rupestri), including the 10th century San Michele delle Grotte. It has also a well preserved Roman bridge.
Culture
Gravina is famous for one of the oldest fairFair
A fair or fayre is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary; some last only an afternoon while others may ten weeks. ...
s in Europe: the Saint George's Fair has been held each April since 1294.
External links
- Gravina website
- "Etnikàntaro" Gravina's group of ethnic-popular music
- Official site of 712 Saint George's Fair
- Documentary Film about the Sassi di Matera and the Gravina, Roba Forestiera, 44 min., 2004