Conversano
Encyclopedia
Conversano is an ancient town and comune
in the province of Bari
, Apulia
, southern Italy
. It is located 30 km south-east of Bari
, 7 km from the Adriatic
coast, at 219 m above sea-level.
The counts of Conversano had a stud where they raised mostly black Neapolitan horse
s with Barb
and Andalusian
genetic background, strong ram-like heads, short backs, broad hocks
. One such horse, born 1767, and in line with a tradition named also Conversano, became one of the principal stallions for establishing the Lipizzan
horses (Lipizzaner).
or the Peucetii
founded on the hill a town known as Norba. Later, as showed by the 6th century BC necropolis, it became a flourishing trade town which was influenced by the nearby Greek colonies. It was conquered by the Romans
in 268 BC. Norba seems to have been abandoned around the time of the Visigoth
ic invasion of Italy in 410-411.
The toponym Casale Cupersanem is known from the 5th century AD, and was a bishopric seat from the 7th century. This new town gained importance when, in 1054, the Norman lord Geoffrey
took the title of "Count of Conversano" and turned it into the capital of a large county which extended up to Lecce
and Nardò
. After his death in 1101, the county was inherited in sequence by his sons Robert and Alexander
. In 1132, defeated by Roger II of Sicily
, Alexander fled to Dalmatia
, the county being assigned to Robert I of Bassunvilla, who was succeeded by his son Robert II of Bassunvilla (aka Robert III of Loritello). After a period under the direct royal sovereignty, it was a possession of Bernardino Gentile and of the Brienne, the Enghien, Luxembourg, Sanseverino, Barbiano, Orsini, Caldora and Orsini del Balzo families. In 1455 Giovanni Antonio del Balzo Orsini
died, and the county was inherited by his daughter Catherine, whose husband Giulio Antonio Acquaviva
started the long rule of the Acquaviva
family, which was to last until the early 19th century.
In 1690 the town was struck by plague and decimated. Feudality was abolished in 1806.
In 1921 a local socialist deputy, Giuseppe Di Vagno, was assassinated in Mola di Bari
by Fascist militia.
dating from the period of Norman-Hohenstaufen
rule in the Kingdom of Sicily
. It is located on a hill commanding the city, and dates probably to the Gothic Wars (6th century), though it was rebuilt starting from the 11th century. It has a single round tower added by Giulio Antonio Acquaviva
.
The Romanesque
cathedral is the see of the diocese of Conversano-Monopoli. It was built in the 11th century, but received new decorations in the 14th and, in Baroque style, in the 17th centuries. The exterior is in Romanesque style with a large 15th century rose window
and three portals, the middle one having sculpted decoration; the plan has a T-shape with two eastbound apses, the aisles being characterized by matronaei and, in the left one, a 15th century fresco from the Pisan school. The church houses the icon of the Madonna della Fonte, protector of the city.
The Benedictine Monastery, founded, according to tradition, in the 6th century, was once one of the most powerful in Apulia. The Benedictines were expelled in the mid-13th century, begin replaced by a group of Cistercian nuns from Greece in 1266. It was the only convent in western Europe whose nuns could wear male religious symbols (such as the mitre
). The church has maintained part of the 11th century walls, while the decorated side entrance is from 1658. The interior has a nave and two aisles with Baroque decorations and two canvasses by Paolo Finoglio. The crypt, dedicated to San Mauro, is from the 11th century. The bell tower has the particularity to have been designed higher than that of the cathedral, to symbolize the superior status enjoyed by the nuns over the local bishop.
Other landmarks include the Megalithic walls (6th century BC) erected by the Pelasgi, the Baroque
church of SS. Cosma e Damiano, the church of St. Francis (1289) and, 1 km outside the city, that of St. Catherine (c. 12th century). In the neighborhood are the church of Santa Maria dell'Isola (1462, enlarged in 1530), the Castle of Marchione (a 18th century country residence of the Acquaviva) and the ruins of Castiglione (13th-16th centuries).
team won the national league in the 2002–03 2003–04 2005–06 2009–10 seasons.
, Italy, since 1998 Nardò
, Italy
, since 2008 Fratta Polesine
, Italy, since 2008 Trecenta
, Italy, since 2008 Recanati
, Italy, since 2008 Bethlehem
, Palestinian Authority, since 13 August 2009
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
in the province of Bari
Province of Bari
The Province of Bari is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Bari.It has an area of 5,138 km², and a total population of 1,594,109 . There are 48 comuni in the province, see Comuni of the Province of Bari...
, Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
, southern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It is located 30 km south-east of Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
, 7 km from the Adriatic
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
coast, at 219 m above sea-level.
The counts of Conversano had a stud where they raised mostly black Neapolitan horse
Neapolitan horse
The Neapolitan Horse, , Neapolitano or Napolitano, is a horse breed that originated in the plains between Naples and Caserta, in the Campania region of Italy, but which may have been bred throughout the Kingdom of Naples. The Neapolitan horse was frequently mentioned in literature from the 16th to...
s with Barb
Barb
Barb may refer to:* A backward-facing point on a fish hook or similar implement, rendering extraction from the victim's flesh more difficult* Wind barbs for each station on a map of reported weather conditions...
and Andalusian
Andalusian horse
The Andalusian, also known as the Pure Spanish Horse or PRE , is a horse breed developed in the Iberian Peninsula. Its ancestors have been present on the Iberian Peninsula for thousands of years. The Andalusian has been recognized as an individual breed since the 15th century, and its conformation...
genetic background, strong ram-like heads, short backs, broad hocks
Hock (zoology)
The hock, or gambrel, is the joint between the tarsal bones and tibia of a digitigrade or unguligrade quadrupedal mammal, such as a horse, cat, or dog...
. One such horse, born 1767, and in line with a tradition named also Conversano, became one of the principal stallions for establishing the Lipizzan
Lipizzan
The Lipizzan or Lipizzaner , is a breed of horse closely associated with the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria, where the finest representatives demonstrate the haute école or "high school" movements of classical dressage, including the highly controlled, stylized jumps and other movements...
horses (Lipizzaner).
History
Conversano was settled as early as the Iron Age, when the IapygesIapyges
The Iapyges or Iapygians were an Indo-European people who inhabited the heel of Italy before being absorbed by the Romans.-Identity:The Iapyges have unknown origins but could have been from Illyria....
or the Peucetii
Peucetii
The Peucetii were a tribe who were living in Apulia, southern Italy, in the country behind Barion...
founded on the hill a town known as Norba. Later, as showed by the 6th century BC necropolis, it became a flourishing trade town which was influenced by the nearby Greek colonies. It was conquered by the Romans
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
in 268 BC. Norba seems to have been abandoned around the time of the Visigoth
Visigoth
The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germans who spread through the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period...
ic invasion of Italy in 410-411.
The toponym Casale Cupersanem is known from the 5th century AD, and was a bishopric seat from the 7th century. This new town gained importance when, in 1054, the Norman lord Geoffrey
Geoffrey, Count of Conversano
Geoffrey the Elder was an Italo-Norman nobleman. A nephew of Robert Guiscard through one of his sisters, he was the count of Conversano from 1072 and the lord of Brindisi and Nardò from 1070, until his death....
took the title of "Count of Conversano" and turned it into the capital of a large county which extended up to Lecce
Lecce
Lecce is a historic city of 95,200 inhabitants in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Lecce, the second province in the region by population, as well as one of the most important cities of Puglia...
and Nardò
Nardò
Nardò is a town and comune of 31,185 inhabitants and comune in the southern Italian region of Apulia, in the province of Lecce.-History:...
. After his death in 1101, the county was inherited in sequence by his sons Robert and Alexander
Alexander, Count of Conversano
Alexander was the second count of Conversano , the son and successor of Geoffrey the Elder.Alexander, with his brother Tancred, was a constant thorn in the side of Roger II of Sicily. He took part in a civil war that broke out in Bari...
. In 1132, defeated by Roger II of Sicily
Roger II of Sicily
Roger II was King of Sicily, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, later became Duke of Apulia and Calabria , then King of Sicily...
, Alexander fled to Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
, the county being assigned to Robert I of Bassunvilla, who was succeeded by his son Robert II of Bassunvilla (aka Robert III of Loritello). After a period under the direct royal sovereignty, it was a possession of Bernardino Gentile and of the Brienne, the Enghien, Luxembourg, Sanseverino, Barbiano, Orsini, Caldora and Orsini del Balzo families. In 1455 Giovanni Antonio del Balzo Orsini
Giovanni Antonio del Balzo Orsini
Giovanni Antonio Del Balzo Orsini was Prince of Taranto, Duke of Bari, Count of Lecce, Acerra, Soleto and Conversano, as well as Count of Matera and of Ugento ....
died, and the county was inherited by his daughter Catherine, whose husband Giulio Antonio Acquaviva
Giulio Antonio Acquaviva
Giulio Antonio Acquaviva was an Italian nobleman and condottiere.Born at Atri, he was a member of a patrician family of the Kingdom of Naples with large estates in Abruzzo, and held the titles of Duke of Atri, Count of San Flaviano and Giulianova, Lord of Forcella, Roseto, Padula, and was the...
started the long rule of the Acquaviva
Acquaviva
-Places:Italy:*Acquaviva Collecroce, in the province of Campobasso*Acquaviva delle Fonti, in the province of Bari*Acquaviva d'Isernia, in the province of Isernia*Acquaviva Picena, in the province of Ascoli Piceno...
family, which was to last until the early 19th century.
In 1690 the town was struck by plague and decimated. Feudality was abolished in 1806.
In 1921 a local socialist deputy, Giuseppe Di Vagno, was assassinated in Mola di Bari
Mola di Bari
Mola di Bari, more commonly referred to simply as Mola, is a small coastal town of about 26,000 inhabitants located approximately 22 kilometres south of Bari in the Southern Italian region of Apulia ....
by Fascist militia.
Counts of Conversano
This list may not be complete.| Year(s) | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1072–1100 | Geoffrey, Count of Conversano Geoffrey, Count of Conversano Geoffrey the Elder was an Italo-Norman nobleman. A nephew of Robert Guiscard through one of his sisters, he was the count of Conversano from 1072 and the lord of Brindisi and Nardò from 1070, until his death.... |
first Count of Conversano |
| 1100–1132 | Alexander, Count of Conversano Alexander, Count of Conversano Alexander was the second count of Conversano , the son and successor of Geoffrey the Elder.Alexander, with his brother Tancred, was a constant thorn in the side of Roger II of Sicily. He took part in a civil war that broke out in Bari... |
son of Geoffrey; deprived of his territories in 1132 by King Roger II of Sicily Roger II of Sicily Roger II was King of Sicily, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, later became Duke of Apulia and Calabria , then King of Sicily... ; died after 1142 |
| 1132–1138 | Robert I of Bassunvilla (aka Robert I, Count of Conversano Robert I, Count of Conversano Robert I of Bassunvilla was a Norman baron from Molise. His family originated in Vassonville, near Dieppe.... ) |
brother-in-law of Roger II of Sicily Roger II of Sicily Roger II was King of Sicily, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, later became Duke of Apulia and Calabria , then King of Sicily... |
| 1138–1182 | Robert II of Bassunvilla Robert III of Loritello Robert II of Bassunvilla was the count of Conversano and Loritello . His family had a long history in Vassonville, near Dieppe.... |
son of Robert I; also Count of Loritello as Robert III |
Main sights
Conversano's main attractions is the medieval CastleConversano Castle
The Castle of Conversano is located on the highest point of the hill on which the city stands in a position able to dominate the whole surrounding territory to the sea, and borders the old Largo della Corte, a large irregularly shaped square always at the heart of the city life.-History:The castle...
dating from the period of Norman-Hohenstaufen
Hohenstaufen
The House of Hohenstaufen was a dynasty of German kings in the High Middle Ages, lasting from 1138 to 1254. Three of these kings were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor. In 1194 the Hohenstaufens also became Kings of Sicily...
rule in the Kingdom of Sicily
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...
. It is located on a hill commanding the city, and dates probably to the Gothic Wars (6th century), though it was rebuilt starting from the 11th century. It has a single round tower added by Giulio Antonio Acquaviva
Giulio Antonio Acquaviva
Giulio Antonio Acquaviva was an Italian nobleman and condottiere.Born at Atri, he was a member of a patrician family of the Kingdom of Naples with large estates in Abruzzo, and held the titles of Duke of Atri, Count of San Flaviano and Giulianova, Lord of Forcella, Roseto, Padula, and was the...
.
The Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
cathedral is the see of the diocese of Conversano-Monopoli. It was built in the 11th century, but received new decorations in the 14th and, in Baroque style, in the 17th centuries. The exterior is in Romanesque style with a large 15th century rose window
Rose window
A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...
and three portals, the middle one having sculpted decoration; the plan has a T-shape with two eastbound apses, the aisles being characterized by matronaei and, in the left one, a 15th century fresco from the Pisan school. The church houses the icon of the Madonna della Fonte, protector of the city.
The Benedictine Monastery, founded, according to tradition, in the 6th century, was once one of the most powerful in Apulia. The Benedictines were expelled in the mid-13th century, begin replaced by a group of Cistercian nuns from Greece in 1266. It was the only convent in western Europe whose nuns could wear male religious symbols (such as the mitre
Mitre
The mitre , also spelled miter, is a type of headwear now known as the traditional, ceremonial head-dress of bishops and certain abbots in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in the Anglican Communion, some Lutheran churches, and also bishops and certain other clergy in the Eastern Orthodox...
). The church has maintained part of the 11th century walls, while the decorated side entrance is from 1658. The interior has a nave and two aisles with Baroque decorations and two canvasses by Paolo Finoglio. The crypt, dedicated to San Mauro, is from the 11th century. The bell tower has the particularity to have been designed higher than that of the cathedral, to symbolize the superior status enjoyed by the nuns over the local bishop.
Other landmarks include the Megalithic walls (6th century BC) erected by the Pelasgi, the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
church of SS. Cosma e Damiano, the church of St. Francis (1289) and, 1 km outside the city, that of St. Catherine (c. 12th century). In the neighborhood are the church of Santa Maria dell'Isola (1462, enlarged in 1530), the Castle of Marchione (a 18th century country residence of the Acquaviva) and the ruins of Castiglione (13th-16th centuries).
Sport
The local handballTeam handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
team won the national league in the 2002–03 2003–04 2005–06 2009–10 seasons.
Twin towns
CasciaCascia
Cascia is a town and comune of the Italian province of Perugia in a rather remote area of the mountainous southeastern corner of Umbria. It is about 21 km from Norcia on the road to Rieti in the Lazio .-History:...
, Italy, since 1998 Nardò
Nardò
Nardò is a town and comune of 31,185 inhabitants and comune in the southern Italian region of Apulia, in the province of Lecce.-History:...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, since 2008 Fratta Polesine
Fratta Polesine
Fratta Polesine is a comune in the Province of Rovigo in the Italian region Veneto, located about 70 km southwest of Venice and about 11 km southwest of Rovigo...
, Italy, since 2008 Trecenta
Trecenta
Trecenta is a comune in the Province of Rovigo in the Italian region Veneto, located about 80 km southwest of Venice and about 25 km west of Rovigo....
, Italy, since 2008 Recanati
Recanati
Recanati is a town and comune in the Province of Macerata, Marche region of Italy. Recanati was founded around 1150 AD from three pre-existing castles. In 1290 it proclaimed itself an independent republic and, in the 15th century, was famous for its international fair...
, Italy, since 2008 Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
, Palestinian Authority, since 13 August 2009