Lucera

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Comune di Lucera
Municipal coat of arms
Country	Italy
Region	Puglia
Province	Foggia (FO)
Mayor

Elevation	250 m
Area	338 km²
Population
- Total (as of 2005)	34,911
- Density	103/km²
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	41°30′N, 15°20′E
Gentilic	Lucerini
Dialing code	0881
Postal code	71036
Frazioni	Regente, San Giusto
Patron	Santa Maria
- Day	August 15
Location of Lucera in Italy
Website: www.comune.lucera.fg.it

The Cathedral of Lucera.

Lucera is a town and comune in the Province of Foggia, in the Apulia region of Italy.

1 History
2 Main sights
3 See also
4 Sources and references

[edit] History

Lucera is an ancient city founded in Daunia, the centre of Dauni territory (in present day Apulia). Archeological excavations show the presence of a bronze age village inside the city boundaries. Lucera was probably named after either Lucius, a mythical Dauno king, or a temple dedicated to the goddess Lux Cereris. A third possibility is that the city was founded and named by the Etruscans, in which case the name probably means Holy Wood (luc = wood, eri = holy).

In 321 BC the Roman army was deceived into thinking Lucera was under siege by the Samnites. Hurrying to relieve their allies the army walked into an ambush and were defeated at the famous Battle of the Caudine Forks. The Samnites occupied Lucera but were thrown out after a revolt. The city sought Roman protection and in 320 BC was granted the status of Colonia Togata, which meant it was ruled by the Roman Senate. 2500 Romans moved to Lucera in order to strengthen the ties between the two cities. From then on Lucera was known as a steadfast supporter of Rome.

During the civil wars of the late Republic Pompey set up his headquarters in Lucera, but abandoned the city when Julius Caesar approached. Lucera quickly switched it's allegiance and Caesar's clemency spared it from harm. In the next civil war between Octavian and Mark Anthony the city did not escape as lightly. After the war Octavian settled many veteran soldiers on the lands of the ruined city. This helped Lucera recover quickly and marked an era of renewed prosperity. Many of the surviving Roman landmarks hail from this Augustan period, among them the Luceran amphitheatre.

With the fall of the Western Roman Empire the city of Lucera entered into a state of decline. In 663 AD it was captured from the Lombards and destroyed by the Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II.

Muslims had lived since the 9th century in Sicily, Lucera and the surrounding region. In the 13th century Lucera was called Lucaera Saracenorum because it represented the last stronghold of Islamic presence in Italy. Emperor Frederick II had begun forced deportation of Muslim minorities, but he left Lucera intact. Medieval Lucera had at one point more than 20,000 mainly Muslim inhabitants. Official records are vague on the fate of this large and well-received Muslim colony. The entire population was apparently destroyed in the summer of the year 1300, its population either forced to convert to Christianity, deported to the Middle East or sold into slavery.

Lucera attained great importance when the Staufian Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, acting as King Frederick II [strictly speaking I, the first] of Sicily, transferred there around 1220 the 'Saracens' of Sicily whom he had shortly before subjugated, and who from enemies became his most faithful and trusted supporters in his wars against the popes and the great barons of the Kingdom of Naples.

The royal treasury was also located at Lucera. During the invasion of Charles of Anjou Lucera held out the longest. The remaining Saracens were converted en masse in 1300; their mosque was destroyed by Charles II, and upon its ruins arose the present cathedral, S. Maria della Vittoria.

Hohenstaufen castle.

[edit] Main sights

It hosts several important monuments from different ages:

the Roman Amphitheater
the medieval Castle
the Church of S. Francesco
the Cathedral, built in 1300 on the grounds of the last standing medieval mosque in Italy, which had been destroyed the same year.