Tag: Adriatic Sea

“THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – BARI to TARANTO”

TARANTO

Another town I had not anticipated visiting. Taranto is much further south than we planned traveling. It is a coastal city in Apulia, southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans in the 8th century BC during the period of Greek colonization – good to see the Spartans had finished fighting long enough to do something positive.

This was a longer journey and moved us out of the coastal areas of the Adriatic Sea to cross some long flat plains into an industrialized centre on the Mediterranean Sea.

The walk from the station to the old town was also longer than other towns. Taranto was clearly a much larger town. To get to the old town we had to cross a substantial bridge. Cactus seemed to be a popular roadside plant and was coming into flower.

Another church. This time atop a large staircase – Chiostro de san Domenico – plainly adorned but with a new twist on the stations of the cross. In the pictures below you can make out the plaque on the walls put forward the picture of the Crucifixion.

As we walked through the old town some of the passageways reduced to single file and some of the doors must have had some big hay wagons storing goods behind them. Here we encountered the practice of adorning the front door with bows celebrating the birth of a child blue for boys and pink for girls. In this case I think a little girl but they have forgotten to take an earlier birth “notice” down. We were to see this regularly in Naples. We also encountered the back street cafes – yes that’s it in the last photo. There is our fearless leader forever conscious of the WHS rules of being seen.

In our walk about we uncovered an Italian national monument Basilica Cattedrale san Calaldo. We were told that the primitive early Christian cathedral, attested since the 7th century, had to be placed outside the walls of the town and its location could probably be in the area where the Church of Carmine is now located, where a piece of the column on which Saint Peter is said to have celebrated the Holy Sacrifice is currently preserved. However, the church we see today was built by the Byzantines in the second half of the 10th century, following the sacking of the city by the Saracens in AD 927, when the Muslims definitively destroyed what remained of the ancient Greco-Roman city. The building contains some very interesting features and remains in use.

After leaving the gift shop (they must spoil it don’t they) we continued our walk about passing a florist with a novel presentation. The space inside was very tiny and this shopkeeper had utilized every inch of space including the back of the doors. It’s not yet Italian lunch time and the street cafes are empty. But judging by the number of tables in all sorts of spaces they expect a crowd. Then we found what the Byzantine Saracens left behind – a bit of the Greco- Roman ruins they missed in their sacking of the city. Across the road was the castle in use today for what appeared to be some para-military purpose and not permitting visitors. It had been constructed by the occupying Aragonese and still in use. I got cranky about that and the fact that I couldn’t take any photos inside. I was still receiving chemotherapy and tiredness brought on my bad temper. Kerry correctly pulled me away and I stomped off.

I moved on over another bridge and spotted this fishing vessel full of fish with trailing gulls. Fishing remains an important part of Taranto. Across another bridge (it dawned on me that we were on an island) and here is the HQ for Marina Militare.

Nearby we found a café for lunch. It fitted into a tiny space with some imaginative interior design and colour schemes – here is a photo of Robert leaving the bathroom bitching like hell about how small it was.

After a rather disappointing lunch (I still had no appetite due to my chemo) we continued our exploration following the main road around the island. The road took us to the sheltered harbour housing the fishing fleet and a rather tired section of the old town. Notably the church looked in good order.

We had circumnavigated the island containing the old town of Taranto and called it a day. I needed a nap so we made our way back to the train station, and I had my nap going back to Bari.

You may note that Robert has taken over the itinerary but we didn’t mind. He had a few more surprises for us so get ready for “THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – BARI to MATERA” in my next blog.

“THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – BARI TO POLIGNANO A MARE”

POLIGNANO A MARE

This town was one of the towns we wished to visit. Our research showed that it had many points of interest and it was on the itinerary prepared by Chat GPT. Irresistible wouldn’t you say. Robert thought so and agreed it was worth a visit. Our train was loaded with beach goers and we were concerned that we were going to be crowded out.

It is a town in the municipality of Metropolitan City of Bari, Puglia southern Italy, located on the Adriatic Sea. My research showed there is a tour of sea caves by boat that can be taken from the town. That interested me but as I have said before we were there in winter and out of season, so it was closed for the season. After arriving on the train there was a short walk to the city gate – oops it was closed also but then it’s not really in operation anymore.

The area has been settled since prehistoric times. It is believed to be the site of the ancient Greek city of Neapolis of Apulia. Thanks to its strategic position on the Adriatic Sea, it soon became a trade centre. The Byzantine Empire, in the 6th century, turned it into a municipal structure; subsequently, it was dominated by the Normans. Under the Aragonese crown, Polignano reached its peak in both economic and cultural terms.

Not to worry, the crowd who came on the train with us showed us the way into town and moved on quickly down the road until reaching a bridge showing exactly why people come to here – the breath taking vista out to sea, not the black cat on the rock ledge but rather the natural rock walls holding the town out of the sea. People do live here – notice the washing on the line and the altana on the roof (Italian roof top terraces). Everywhere in town brings you back to the coastline.

Excited by the movement above us we went back to the City gate and found a passage onto the rocky escarpment above us into the houses on the cliffs. The views were fantastic – all along the coastline houses and building clung to the cliff face, even into the inlet below. The sea caves were quite obvious but the tours were not running so further disappointment that we had chosen the wrong season. We had hoped to have lunch at a restaurant in the walls of the cliff face but it was closed of course for the winter season. You can see the entrance to the restaurant in the photos below. Still we were able to weave in and out of the passage ways all appearing to be alive with lights and decorations. We stopped for lunch after which I was weary and we decided to make our way back to the station.

In one of the piazzas, we discovered a memorial to the soldiers lost in WW1 & WW2 – not often have I seen these memorials in rural Italy. Kerry found one of the oldest olive trees we had seen so she gave it a hug for good luck.

The trip on the train to Bari was comfortable and I even had a nap – the photos don’t tell you how far we would walk through these towns and I can tell you I needed the nap. Tomorrow will be a very big day with a trip to Taranto in the very south of the Italian peninsula so be on the lookout for “THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – BARI TO TARANTO”