| Taranto | ||
.JPG/250px-Castello_Aragonese(Taranto).JPG) | ||
Coat of arms  | ||
| State | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Puglia | |
| Territory | Ionic arch of Taranto | |
| Altitude | 15 m a.s.l. | |
| Surface | 250 km² | |
| Inhabitants | 203.257 (2013 census) | |
| Name inhabitants | Tarantini | |
| Prefix tel | 39 099 | |
| POSTAL CODE | 74121-74123 | |
| Time zone | UTC 1 | |
| Patron | San Cataldo (May 10) | |
Position
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| Institutional website | ||
Taranto is a city of Puglia, capital of the province of the same name.
To know
Taranto was founded in 706 BC. by the Spartan colonists led by Falanto who, following the words of the Oracle of Delphi, sought new lands on the Ionian coasts to conquer. "When you see it rain from a clear sky, you will conquer Territories and Cities and you will be the ruin of the Japigi" so said the words of the Oracle. The Spartans led by Falanto arrived on the coasts of Southern Italy and after a bloody war against the local populations, the Japigi, conquered the entire territory thanks to their superior and legendary skills in combat. Taranto, the Spartan colony, became in the fourth century. BC one of the richest and most important cities in the known world, so much so that today it is considered the capital of Magna Graecia. Although Taranto and Sparta were autonomous and independent cities, they remained in close contact on an economic, political and cultural level until the Roman conquest. In the following centuries Taranto, the Spartan city, faced historical periods of great economic development and cultural flowering in particular in the period of the Principality of Taranto (1088-1465), one of the most important Norman principalities in Southern Italy that extended throughout the Salento and in part of today's lands of Bari The testimonies of this glorious past, from the Spartan foundation to the great Tarantine nobility in 1700, can be documented and visible in the Ancient Village of Taranto which for its historical and cultural heritage is among the richest and oldest in Europe
Geographical notes
Taranto overlooks the Ionian Sea and is located 15 meters above sea level, in a flat area extending along the North / North West-South East axis and surrounded from North West to East by the Murge plateau. Its territory has an extension of 209.64 km² and is mainly bathed by the sea, being characterized by the presence of three natural peninsulas and an artificial island, formed following the cutting of the original peninsula carried out during the construction of the moat of the Castle. Aragonese. The city is in fact also known as "the city of two seas", being bathed by the Great Sea along the external coast enclosed in the bay bordered to the North West by Punta Rondinella and to the South by Capo San VIto, as well as by the Piccolo Sea, which constitutes a vast internal pelvis.
When to go
The favorable climate of Taranto allows the city to be visited throughout the year, possibly avoiding the excessive heat of the high summer season.
How to orient yourself
Taranto: full screen map.Neighborhoods
- Drums
- Paul VI
- Taranto 2 (TA2)
- Taranto old
- Village
- Bestat
- Unhealthy
- Lama
- San Vito
- Salinella
How to get
By plane
Bari-Palese and Brindisi-Casale airports.
By car
- From the north: A14 dir. Taranto, then signs for the city center.
- From the north / west (Basilicata, Calabria): SS 106 ionica direz. Taranto.
- From the north / east (Prov. Di Bari): SS 100 of Gioia del Colle, dir. Taranto.
- From the east (Prov. Of Brindisi): SS 7 APPIA, dir. Taranto.
- From south / east (Prov. Of Lecce): SS 7ter Salentina, dir. Taranto.
Port of Taranto.
On the train
Taranto station.
By bus
- Marinobus Autolinee
- Marozzi Autolinee
- Flixbus
How to get around
Transportation within the city is handled by the company AMAT
What see
- 1 National Archaeological Museum of Taranto (M.Ar.Ta.), Via Cavour, 10. 74100 Taranto, ☎ 39 099 4532112, @[email protected].
8 € full, 2 € reduced, free under 18 and over 65 (Jul 2020). 
Tue-Sat 8: 30-19: 30, Sun 9: 00-13: 00 and 15: 30-19: 30. Surely one of the most important archaeological museums in southern Italy. The first floor houses the Greco-Roman section concerning the Taranto society. The second floor houses the prehistoric section of the Paleolithic and the Bronze Age inherent to the entire Apulian territory. 
- Aragonese castle, Town Hall Square (Island of the Historic Center). free. 09: 30-11: 00 (1st shift), 11: 30-13: 00 (2nd shift), 14: 00-15: 30 (3rd shift), 16: 00-17: 30 (4th shift) ), 18: 00-19: 30 (5th shift), 20: 00-21: 30 (6th shift), 22: 30-24: 00 (7th shift), 24: 00-01: 30 (8 Round). The Aragonese Castle of Taranto, or Castel Sant'Angelo, has recently become one of the most visited monuments in Puglia; hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the Taranto fortress every year, where the Navy, which has owned it since the end of the 19th century. The construction of the Castle, located in the southeastern corner of the island of the Old Town, was commissioned by the King of Naples Ferdinand of Aragon to strengthen the defenses in the area, especially in Puglia, given the constant danger of a Turkish invasion. The building consists of five circular towers: San Cristoforo, San Lorenzo, Sant’Angelo, Bandiera and Annunziata.
- Cathedral and Chapel of San Cataldo (Cathedral of San Cataldo), Piazza Duomo (Island of the Historic Center). free. It is the oldest Apulian cathedral, initially dedicated to Santa Maria Maddalena then to San Cataldo bishop. It was built by the Byzantines in the second half of the 10th century, during the reconstruction of the city commissioned by the Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas.
- Archaic Greek temple (Doric columns), Piazza Castello (Piazza Municipio, Island of the Historic Center). free. The Doric columns represent the last surviving elements of the most ancient temple of Magna Graecia. The temple is traditionally believed to be dedicated to Poseidon but recent studies have speculated that it could be a female deity instead.
- Church of San Domenico Maggiore (Via Duomo, Island of the Historic Center). free. The church of San Domenico (formerly the church of San Pietro Imperiale) is a Romanesque-Gothic style church in Taranto, built in 1302 in the old town of the city. On the Borgo stood a Greek temple of the Archaic period, rebuilt in the classical period (5th century BC), on whose remains the Byzantine-style church of San Pietro Imperiale was probably built during the 11th century, with an adjoining convent. The complex was abandoned by the Benedictines in 1228. As evidenced by an inscription in Latin in the coat of arms of the entrance portal [2], the current building was built in 1302 and dedicated to San Domenico by Giovanni Taurisano, who came from Provence following Charles II of Anjou and appointed by them as feudal lord of Taurisano, in the province of Lecce. The Dominican fathers settled there in the early fourteenth century and in 1349 the church was consecrated to San Domenico di Guzmán. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries three brotherhoods were established: the Royal archconfraternity of Maria Santissima del Rosario (between 1571 and 1578), the Confraternity of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (1580), better known as "of the Most Holy Name of God "and the confraternity of San Domenico in Soriano (1670), who erected three altars in the chapels of the left aisle in the church. The main entrance can be reached by means of a Baroque staircase built in the center of the facade towards the end of the 18th century, when the San Domenico slope was created to connect Via Duomo with the lower part of the island.
- 2 Spartan Museum of Taranto-Bellacicco Hypogeum (Taranto Underground), Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 39, ☎ 39 330438646, @[email protected]. On reservation. The Spartan Museum of Taranto-Hypogeum Bellacicco is an underground structure located at number 39 of the railing of the great sea of Taranto (ancient village). The peculiarity that makes this structure unique in the whole historical-artistic panorama of Taranto is that all the eras and historical periods are documented in it, starting from the foundation of Taranto by the Spartans and ending with the 17th century. date of construction of the noble palace of the same name. The hypogeum, divided into four rooms (from five to eight meters high), has an extension of about 800 square meters and a depth that reaches the lowest levels (four in total) at 16 meters below the road level and 4 meters below the sea level. The structure, in a central position with respect to the island of the historic center, represents a crossroads with the other underground structures of the ancient village which together form the system of the "underground Taranto" that arrive and branch off right in the Bellacicco hypogeum. Although it is difficult to establish the exact date of construction and the various historical evolutions of the structure, all historical, archaeological and geological studies report as the date of first construction of the hypogeum to the foundation period of the city of Taranto when the Spartans dug out the first benches of rock to build the first buildings and fortifications. In later times this area of the ancient village will in fact be called "area of the Fogge (of the quarries)". The structure, belonging to and privately managed without public subsidies, is currently the headquarters of the Filonide Cultural Association and is the only fully restored underground structure that can be used in the entire ancient village. The restoration of the structure, which lasted six years, was carried out with the family funds of its current owners (the Bellacicco family) without public or private funding. In 2007 it received the recognition of "cultural heritage of national importance" by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities by affixing an exhibitor to the entrance of the structure. The hypogeum is the subject of numerous degree theses in Italy and the United States and a container for various types of cultural and artistic events. Since 2015 the Bellacicco hypogeum has permanently housed the Spartan Museum of Taranto containing modern art exhibitions and historical reproductions of Greek Taranto. The hypogeum can be visited thanks to the guided tour service.
- Mu.di. Diocesan Art Museum (Island of the Historic Center).
- Medieval cloisters of San Michele, San Domenico, San Francesco, Santa Chiara (Island of the Historic Center).
- Underground hypogeums (Island of the Historic Center). free. The hypogeal environments are so numerous that they form a vast network of underground passages and a complex system of tunnels that extends into a network that connects them with accesses to the sea as well. The Old City is in fact crossed by a myriad of underground cavities scattered under all the noble palaces, convents, churches. Most of these cavities are part of a stratigraphic context dating back to the Greek period, often quarry areas dating back to this historical period that could be interesting for identifying wall sections, foundations of buildings or public areas, temple areas and ancient road axes and historical periods specific, primary and current functionality.
- Mu.di. Sant'Eligio tourist pier (Island of the Historic Center). free.
- Mu.di. Pantaleo Palace and A. Majorano Ethnographic Museum (Island of the Historic Center).
- Palazzo Mannarini (Hotel Akropolis) and terrace of the belvedere (Island of the Historic Center). free.
- Promenade Vittorio Emnauele III (Continuing from the Isola del Centro Storico towards Ponte Girevole, on the right.).
8 € full, 2 € reduced, free under 18 and over 65 (Jul 2020). 
Tue-Sat 8: 30-19: 30, Sun 9: 00-13: 00 and 15: 30-19: 30. Surely one of the most important archaeological museums in southern Italy. The first floor houses the Greco-Roman section concerning the Taranto society. The second floor houses the prehistoric section of the Paleolithic and the Bronze Age inherent to the entire Apulian territory.
Events and parties
- Holy Week in Taranto, Borgo Antico and Borgo Umbertino.
- May Day free and thinking (Archaeological Park of the Greek Walls). May 1.
- Feast of San Cataldo. May 10. Feast of the Patron Saint
- RaffoFest (On the roundabout of the seafront). In June. Raffo Beer Festival.
- Cinzella Festival. In August.
What to do
Shopping
How to have fun
Where to eat
Where stay
Average prices
- 1 Palazzo Mar Piccolo - holiday apartments, Via Garibaldi 130, ☎ 39 3738120884, @[email protected]. Located near the marina of the Borgo Antico di Taranto, the structure overlooks one of the most beautiful points of Taranto, perfectly connected to the rest of the city by local public transport. The medieval palace is finely finished with wooden and marble decorations. The structure consists of 4 mini apartments all furnished with period furniture and decorated with 18th century ceramics complete with every comfort, cold / hot air conditioning system, hob, minibar, washing machine and bathroom with shower and bidet.
