Barletta, art, nature and a surprise

The original seat of the castle dates back to Norman times, while Frederick occupied the castle fom 1225 to 1228. The additions under Frederick II are witnessed by the building placed on the southern side, marked by two windows bearing, carved on the lunettes, the imperial eagle with a hare in its talons, a recurring motive of the Sweabian iconography. During the Crusades the castle became a regular shelter for knights returning or departing for the Holy Land. It was here that Frederick II held the famous Diet, given his imminent departure on the sixth Crusade, which included his directives for the time he was away and specific instructions should he die. On initiation of the works, Frederick announced the birth of Corrado in the presence of barons and other prelates.

The current building appears as a complex structure formed by two clearly separate parts, the typcally Romanesque front and a part at the rear built in the Gothic style, thus attesting a very long building process. In 1140 the construction of a cathedral with three naves and three apses was started, later enlarged- after 1307 in the aerea of the presbytery with the construction of an additional body covered with ribbed cross vaults and leading into a huge Gothic choir with a polygonal apse, an ambulatory and radial chapels. The building in fact had become insufficient to meet the needs of the population.

It's a bronze statue which is 4.50 metres tall and stands on the left side of the Santo Sepolcro church. It certainly belongs to the Classical period and it represents a Byzantine emperor, wearing military clothing Heraclius according to the tradition, brave defender of the Catholic faith. The statue may have arrived in Barletta in 1204 stolen by the Venetians in Costantinople, during the fourth Crusade.

The opening of the "Giuseppe De Nittis" Picture Gallery, in the splendid site of the"della Marra" Palace, marks an historic date for the city of Barletta that boasts, since 1914, the richest and the most famous collection of the works of the famous painter who represented one of the elevated moments in the ' 800 artistic frame in Europe.

The Margherita di Savoia Saltworks are located in the large Tavoliere delle Puglie plain on the Adriatic sea. They consist of large expanses of still water with different dephts that are divided into basins for the production of sea salt. They are the largest Italian saltworks and one of the largest in the Mediterranean area. There was originally a large coastal lagoon known as lake Salpi on the site of today's salt ponds.

Before returning to Trani and having dinner, we recommended a refreshing swim on the sandy seafront of Barletta.

Here you will taste the best fish sandwich in Trani.