Martina Franca - Martina Franca

Martina Franca is a city of Puglia in the province of Taranto.

To know

City symbol of elegance and refinement, Martina Franca enchants for the triumph of the architectural decoration in limestone, which envelops every single glimpse with eighteenth-century virtuosity of extraordinary creativity. Wherever you turn you will discover a historic center animated by an energetic artistic and cultural spirit that winds like lifeblood. A spirit born from the inspiration and imagination of stonecutters, architects and artists, often veiled by anonymity, whose exceptional genius was able to synthesize stimuli and artistic currents, often very different, in a mixture of Baroque and Rococo lines.

Geographical notes

It is located on the south-eastern hills of Murge, in a position that offers splendid views over the Valle d'Itria. The fauna is characterized by the presence of hares, foxes, hedgehogs, robins, hawks and various nocturnal birds of prey (owl, owl, scops owl and barn owl), as well as a large community of bats (among which, in addition to the most common species, also the Rhinolophus hipposideros, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum and Rhinolophus mehelyi famous for their characteristic Echolocation ability).

The flora consists of stretches of wood and Mediterranean scrub (where the cardoncello mushroom grows spontaneously) alternating with olive groves and vineyards including Verdeca, Bianco d'Alessano and Primitivo Tarantino. In the surrounding countryside there are numerous caves. In the hamlet of Monte Fellone of considerable archaeological importance are the Grotta Cuoco and the Grotta Monte Fellone.

How to orient yourself

Neighborhoods

The municipal territory of Martina Franca includes, in addition to the city, the villages of Baratta, Capitolo, Cappuccini, Carpari, Gemma, Infarinata, Lamia Vecchia, Madonna dell'Arco, Monte Fellone, Monte Ilario, Montetulio San Paolo, Monti del Duca, Motolese , Nigri, Ortolini, Hospital, Papadomenico, Pergolo, Pianelle and Specchia Tarantina.

How to get

By plane

The two closest airports are:

• 41.13857816.764841 ^{[link not working]}Bari Airport - Palese (Karol Wojtyła) (90 km). , 
• 40.65743417.9381462 ^{[link not working]}Brindisi Airport (Salento Airport) (75 km). 

By car

• From the A14 highway, exit at Bari North and continue to Martina Franca.

On boat

• Port of Bari. 
• Port of Brindisi. 

On the train

From Bari or Taranto take the train of the Ferrovie del Sud Est to Martina Franca.

How to get around

What see

• Basilica of San Martino, Piazza Plebiscito. Built in the second half of the eighteenth century, on the initiative of the archpriest Isidoro Chirulli, on the site of the previous Romanesque collegiate church, it is the pearl of the Martinese baroque. It is characterized by the majestic facade, on which the image of the Patron stands out in the center, sharing the cloak with a beggar in Amiens. Inside, the main altar in polychrome marble from the Neapolitan school of 1773, the large chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, a nativity scene by Stefano da Putignano and various paintings by Domenico Antonio Carella are worthy of note. It houses the relics of Santa Comasia, which tradition claims to be a martyr between the 2nd and 4th centuries.

In April 1998, Pope John Paul II elevated it to the dignity of a minor basilica. 

• Church of San Domenico. It was built between 1746 and 1750 on a pre-existing Romanesque building dedicated to St. Peter, in an elegant Baroque style. 
• Church of the Beata Vergine del Carmelo (Church of the Carmine). The Carmelite Father Pier Tommaso Carbotti was responsible for promoting the construction project of the Carmine church, of which the first stone was laid on 25 March 1730, completed in 1758 in an elegant Baroque style, the church is located outside the city walls . It preserves a precious polychrome statue (Santa Maria della Misericordia) attributed to Stefano da Putignano. 
• Church of Sant'Antonio da Padova. Formerly dedicated to Santo Stefano, it was built by the Observant Franciscans in the 15th century; the façade was rebuilt in neoclassical style in 1835. The interior preserves two Renaissance sculptures by Stefano da Putignano: Santo Stefano and Sant'Antonio da Padova. The cloister preserves eighteenth-century frescoes. 
• Church of Sant'Antonio ai Cappuccini. It was built in the 16th century on the ancient grancia of the Basilian monks. The church inside preserves some beautiful cabinet-making altars, in addition to the ancient fresco of the Madonna dell'Odegitria (from which the name of the Valle d'Itria derives) and many paintings dated between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: in the premises of the old convent headquarters of the foundation of San Girolamo Emiliani - Village of the Child, help for children with family problems. 
• Church of San Francesco da Paola. It dates back to the early seventeenth century and was built by the Minims on a previous sixteenth-century chapel of the Madonna di Costantinopoli, of which it still retains a canvas at the bottom of the left aisle. Adjacent to the church is the so-called convent of the Paolotti where Father Bonaventura Gaona lived at the beginning of the seventeenth century, who died and buried in Rome (in Sant'Andrea delle Fratte) in the concept of holiness. 
• Church of San Francesco d'Assisi, Mario Pagano square. Built between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by the conventual minor friars. Inside it preserves eight side altars in Lecce Baroque, unique of their kind in Martina. 
• Church of San Giovanni dei Greci. it has preserved the original medieval internal structure with a rectangular hall, only the facade was rebuilt in the Baroque period when the second upper floor was created. 
• Church of San Pietro dei Greci. The late fifteenth-century structure retains the typical pignon roof covering with chiancarelle and the bell gable on the side entrance. 
• Church of San Nicola in Montedoro. It is one of the oldest churches in Martina, the interior is completely frescoed. 
• Church of San Vito. the late medieval structure has been heavily remodeled inside in a baroque style. On the facade stands the bell gable with three arches. 
• Church of the Annunziata. It is an ancient rectangular church outside the walls that houses the Archconfraternity of Mount Carmel and a museum that preserves significant testimonies of the religious association. 
• Church of Providence. It is a simple church that stands on the ancient road that once led to the Itria Valley. The roof is pignon with a bell gable and the interior retains some tempera. 
• Church of the Holy Spirit. It is a small church close to the Itria Valley with a covering of chiancarelle, dates back to the sixteenth century and the interior has frescoes in the presbytery area. 
• Church of San Donato. Dating back to the 16th century, it is a small church in the Itria Valley with a pignon roof but today it is completely abandoned. 

• Ducal Palace, Piazza Roma. It was begun in the second half of the seventeenth century by the will of Duke Petracone Caracciolo; in it the Renaissance element crosses with the Baroque of Lecce inspiration and the local architectural imprint. Once the residence of the Caracciolo dukes, it is the seat of the Town Hall. Inside the rooms of Arcadia, of Myth and of the Bible, which take their name from the cycles of frescoes housed in them, all works by the Francavillese painter Domenico Carella who executed them in 1776. 
• Nardelli Palace (Martucci Palace), Piazza Roma. In a beautiful position in the square, it is distinguished by the pilasters that enclose the windows symmetrically arranged in the white backgrounds of the facade. 
• Barnaba Palace (Marturano Palace). Built in 1719 by Count Barnaba, it stands out for the two stone balconies that define the facade. 
• Palace of the cavalier Semeraro. Built in 1733, it stands out due to the entrance portal with a double ashlar frame. 
• Delfini Palace. Raised in 1776, as the epigraphic inscription on the portal clearly indicates, which also bears the heraldic coat of arms of the family: a dolphin. 
• Ancona Palace. It is one of the most striking buildings in Martina due to the two lateral caryatids and the central apotropaic mask. 
• Carucci Palace (Fighera Palace). Erected in 1777 it is characterized by the apotropaic mask. 
• Magli Palace (Palazzo Ruggeri or Barnaba e Caroli). Erected in 1759, as reported by the elegant cartouche placed on the Rococo portal. 
• Marinosci Palace. Built in 1744, the balconies with shaped necklaces and the tombstone of Martino Marinosci, a nineteenth-century botanist from Martina stand out. 
• Blasi Palace (Gioia and Chiarelli Palace). Built in 1774, it stands out for its wide wrought iron balconies. 
• Torricell Palace (Fanelli Palace). Built in 1749 by Ambrogio Fanelli, it stands out for the variegated shapes of the side balconies. 
• Turnone Palace. Having become the Conservatory of Santa Maria della Misericordia, built around the end of the fifteenth century or the first half of the sixteenth century, it was probably one of the first noble residences in the city (also being in the so-called Curdunnidde, an archaic housing complex in the historic center dating back to the time of the Angevins) . Ancient residence of the Turnone family, of which, with its imposing extension, testified the considerable social and economic prestige, in the early eighteenth century it was donated to the Duchess of Martina Aurelia Imperiali (wife of Petracone V Caracciolo), who transformed it into a monastic complex still existing and operating. 
• Magli Palace (Blasi Palace). Built in 1748 on a previous 16th century courtyard house. 
• Motolese Palace (Marinosci Palace). Built in 1778, it is crowned at the top by a balcony of shaped columns. 
• Maggi Palace. It features an airy upper veranda. 
• Court house Le Marangi. Founded in 1735, it develops around an internal courtyard 
• Former hospital. Built in 1783 thanks to the income of the canon Michelangelo Cappellari. 
• University building. Also known as the court, seat of the Artisan Association and the Popular Library prof. Michelangelo Semeraro. Built between 1759 and 1762, it was the seat of the local Parliament, in fact the façade bears the coat of arms of the city: a unbridled horse. 
• Stable Building. The eighteenth-century building differs in the two large verandas that delimit the front elevation. 
• Paolo Marino Motolese Palace. The lower part was built in 1716, while the upper floors were added in 1758. 
• Motolese Palace. It has two entrances, the main one in via Principe Umberto bears the foundation date 1775. 
• Blasi Palace (Magli Palace). Rebuilt in the eighteenth century on a previous structure of the sixteenth century; significant is the apotropaic wooden mask of the door. 
• Casavola Palace (Ancona Palace). It is a typical eighteenth-century building with refined moldings of the portal and windows. 
• Recovery Building (Palazzo Magno - Cofano). Cultural living room of Teresa Gentile. The bulk of the imposing late-eighteenth-century palace is characterized by the Pompeian red that paints it completely. 

Events and parties

• Patronal feast and San Martino Fair. 11 November. 
• Patronal feast of San Martino and Santa Comasia. first weekend of July. 
• Itria Valley Festival. (founded in 1975 by Alessandro Caroli, it was born as an opera festival, to which prose and classical music were added later; its peculiarity is given by the fact that works never represented in contemporary times are staged) 
• Cabaret Festival. 
• Candlemas Fair. February 2. 
• Quarantine and quarantine firing. Lent. 
• Festival of the senses. second half of August. 

What to do

Shopping

How to have fun

Where to eat

Where stay

Safety

How to keep in touch

Around

• Alberobello
• Ceglie Messapica
• Cisternino
• Locorotondo
• Ostuni

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Martina Franca
• Commons contains images or other files on Martina Franca

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