Barletta

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Comune di Barletta
Municipal coat of arms
Country	Italy
Region	Apulia
Province	Bari (BA)
Mayor	Nicola Maffei (since June 2006)
Elevation	15 m
Area	146 km²
Population
- Total (as of December 31, 2004)	93,104
- Density	621/km²
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	41°19′N 16°17′E
Gentilic	Barlettani
Dialing code	0883
Postal code	70051
Frazioni	Montaltino, Fiumara
Patron	St. Roger of Canne, SS. Madonna dello Sterpeto
- Day	December 30
Website: www.comune.barletta.ba.it

Barletta, Italy is a city in Northern Apulia with 93,104 inhabitants. It is currently in the province of Bari, but will become the government seat of the new province of Barletta-Andria-Trani when that province is inaugurated in 2008.

It is famous for the Colossus of Barletta, a bronze statue, probably representing Roman Emperor Theodosius II. It was the location of La Disfida di Barletta (the challenge of Barletta), a 1503 battle during which 13 Italians commanded by Ettore Fieramosca defeated the French. In the territory of Barletta there is an archeological site of Canne della Battaglia(in Latin Cannae), where there was the famous battle between Romans and Carthaginians with the general Hannibal. The city has one gold medal for military valour and another one for the civil valour, for its resistance to the Nazi invasion during World War II.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Territory 3 History 4 Famous Barlettans 5 Economy 6 Transportation 7 Tourism

[edit] Geography

Barletta is on the Adriatic coast, where the rocky shore is covered with sands from the Ofanto river. The river forms the boundary of the provinces of Bari and Foggia and has always influenced the agricultural activities of the area. The river also marks the passage from Murgia to the fertile plane of Tavoliere, which starts in Barletta.

Barletta is south-west of the Gulf of Manfredonia and in front of the promontory of Gargano. Its borders include: the Adriatic coast to the east; Trani 12 km to the south-east; Canosa 22 km to the south-west; the mouth of the Ofanto river 5 km to the north-west; and the town of Margerita 13 km to the North. It is situated on a low plane that varies from 10 to 15 meters above sea level. The surface extends over an area of 14.471 hectares, and has a length (east to west) of about 6 km, a width (north to south) of about 2 km and a perimeter of about 13 km.

Geographically, it is at 41°19' North and 16°17'17" East of Greenwich.

In its territory there is a notably stable climate, in large part due to the presence of the sea, which attenuates the atmospheric contrast. The winds are usually from the south. The rainfall is low; it gets 500 mm of rain annually, distributed over about 70 days, with most of the rain in autumn and winter and minimal rain between the second half of June and the first half of August.

[edit] Territory

The commune is comprised of two parts, Montaltino and Fiumara, a famous tourist village of North Bari. The communes next to Barletta are: Andria, Canosa di Puglia, Margherita di Savoia, San Ferdinando di Puglia, Trani, and Trinitapoli.

[edit] History

Barletta traces its origins to the third century B.C. when the city was named Bardulos.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, during the war between the French and the Spanish, the city was the theater of an historic victory of Italian knights over the French challengers, in what became known as the challenge of Barletta (13 February 1503).

The city was the capital of its district and the seat of the lower prefecture for the 120 years between 1806 and 1927.

During World War II, the city was the site of the first episode of Italian resistance against the Nazi troops, thereby earning the Gold Medal of Military Valour and of Civil Merit.

[edit] Famous Barlettans

• Alessandra Benucci, wife of Ludovico Ariosto
• Carlo Cafiero (1846 - 1892), anarchist and champion of Mikhail Bakunin
• Giuseppe Curci (1808 - 1877), musician and composer
• Gennaro Delvecchio (1978 - ), national footballer for Italy
• Giuseppe De Nittis (1846 - 1884), impressionist painter who is probably the best know person from the city
• Vincenzo Desario (1933 - ), general director of the Bank of Italy
• Ettore Fieramosca (1476 - 1515), captain of the Italian cavalry during the challenge of Barletta
• Michele Genovese (1907 - 1980), an Apulian version of Charlie Chaplin
• Carlo Maria Giulini (1914 - 2005), orchestra director
• Col. Francesco Grasso (1888 - 1962), member of the Italian resistance during WWII
• Pietro Mennea (1952 - ), for 17 years was the world-record holder in the 200m sprint and won the gold medal at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.
• Mariano Santo (1488 - 1577), surgeon of the Rennaissance
• Francesco Sponzilli (1796 - ....), scholar and writer
• Mario Gallo (1878-1945) influential director in the Cinema of Argentina

[edit] Economy

Barletta is purely a city of agriculture and industry, of which vineyards and olive groves are the most wide-spread crops. The industrial apparatus is well developed with the presence of a number of shoe-making and textile factories. In the end, this contributes an economic sector of modest proportions to the city.

[edit] Transportation

The city is reachable by train from both the FS line (Trenitalia company), from the Ferrovie del NordBarese (between Bari-Barletta with two stations in the city), and from the Barletta-Spinazzola line. By car it is reachable from the A14 autostrada (exiting at Andria-Barletta or Canosa) or the SS16 superstrada or from the airport of Bari-Palese about 55 km from Barletta. Other than Barletta's commercial port, there aren't sea connections, though Bari and other cities have ferry services across the Adriatic.

[edit] Tourism

The city is endowed with a very long, sandy coast streching to both the east and the west from the commercial port. Along the coast, there are various attractive beaches and trees to the west which create a nice environment for tourists.

The principle monuments of the city are the castle (home to the civic museum), the Colossus of Barletta (a large bronze statue), the nearby Basilica of San Sepolcro (a Romanesque church with particular Oriental influences from Jerusalem, since in the period of the crusades the pilgrims came from a church adjoining a hospital), the Cathedral (a good example of the fusion of Gothic and Roman styles), the Cantina of the Challenge, the Palace of the Marra (a united example of Baroque style that is outside Salent and near the home of the pinacotec), the archeological site of the Canne della Battaglia, the location of the famous clash between the Roman troops and Hannibal in 216 B.C.