History

Bari is a very ancient city, as the presence of a pre-historic village of Bronze Age shows. In III century b.C. the town was already a rich port. It resisted against the invasion of Greeks but was then conquered by Romans and became a Municipium, called Barium. It was an Episcopal seat during Early-Christian age (V-VI century). When the Roman Empire fell, Bari was involved in the fights between Byzantines and Longobards. In 840 Bari was invaded by Saracens, they created a small Emirate led by Kalfun until 870 when the town was conquered by Byzantines. In that period Bari became the most important political, military and commercial Italian town of the Eastern Empire and it was the seat of “Catapano”, a Greek commander that ruled over the territories of Byzantium in the Western part of the empire. Around 1000 Bari was invaded by Saracen pirates. In 1002 it underwent a long siege by them and the town was eventually saved by Venetian fleet, led by doge Orseolo II. Byzantine domination ended in 1071 when the Norman Robert Guiscard conquered the town. During Norman domination, the port became very famous because it was used by Crusaders that left to Jerusalem. Bari is very linked to Normans because under their government, on 9th May 1087, the mortal remains of Saint Nicholas, the most famous Eastern saint, taken in Myra (Turkey) by 62 sailors from Bari. The town became one of the most important centres of Christianity. Norman domination ended in 1156 when William I, called Malo, attacked the town and destroyed it, leaving intact only the Basilica dedicated to Saint Nicholas. Svevians rebuilt Bari and the town lived one of the most beautiful periods of its life thanks to Frederick II. He was a very illuminated king. He gave new strength to the port, restored the castle and promoted art and culture. But the inhabitants of Bari betrayed him and the king left a disdainful sentence: “Ut nudos enses, videas vitare barienses”. He thus invited everyone to stay away from Bari as they stayed away from knives and swords. Then the town was ruled by Angevins with Charles I who imposed heavy taxes. Bari lived a terrible period of decadence and in XV century it was subdued by the feudal government of the princes of Taranto. XVI century was a wealthy period thanks to Isabel of Aragon. When she died, her daughter, Bona, took the power. She was married to Sigismondo I, the king of Poland. When he died, she moved to Bari where she reigned in a very wise way. The inhabitants loved her so much that when she died they wanted to bury her in the basilica. XVI-XVIII centuries were very hard under Spanish domination and then the Bourbon one even if Charles III ordered a new road that passed through Bari and linked Brindisi to Naples. Bari started to have close relationships with Naples and its cultural world. In 1813, thanks to a decree of Murat, Napoleon’s brother-in-law and king of the reign of the two Sicilies the new town started to be built outside the Middle Ages walls. After Murat’s fall, Bari passed again to Bourbons and in 1860 it entered the Reign of Italy. 

Copyright Starnetwork srl - All rights reserved
Written by Stefania Maffeo
Translation by Linda Liguori