Molfetta
Encyclopedia
Molfetta is a city and comune
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:...

of 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...

 in the southern Italian region of 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...

, on 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 sea-level. It is 25 km (15 mi) WNW 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...

.

It has a well restored old city, and its own dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...

.

History

The earliest local signs of permanent habitation are at the Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

 site of Pulo, one of the most important such sites in southern Italy. The origins of the city can be traced to a small fishing port; antique graves testify to a fisherman's village in the fourth century BC. The position of the future city offered a valid landing to the commerce of Roman Rubo
Ruvo di Puglia
Ruvo di Puglia is a town and comune in the province of Bari, Puglia, Italy that is essentially devoted to agriculture, wine and olive growing. It is part of the Murge karst landscape.-Geography and territory:...

. The first indication of a toponym on the coast between Turenum (Trani
Trani
Trani is a seaport of Apulia, southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, in the new Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani , and 40 km by railway West-Northwest of Bari.- History :...

) and Natiolum (Giovinazzo
Giovinazzo
Giovinazzo is a port city situated on the Adriatic coast in the region of Apulia, southern Italy. Giovinazzo lies 18 km WNW of the provincial capital of Bari, and is adjacent to the city ofMolfetta.-History:...

) is in the Itinerarium Provinciarum Antonini Augusti
Antonine Itinerary
The Antonine Itinerary is a register of the stations and distances along the various roads of the Roman empire, containing directions how to get from one Roman settlement to another...

, edited from a third century core. The place denominated Respa was probably a wrong transcript of the toponym Melpha, referring to a small village of fishermen.

The first official document that mentions the city dates to November 925; it documents a civitas denominated Melfi, situated on a peninsula named Sant'Andrea. The city developed under Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 dominion, and was later conquered by the Lombards
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...

, who included it in the Duchy of Benevento
Duchy of Benevento
The Duchy and later Principality of Benevento was the southernmost Lombard duchy in medieval Italy, centred on Benevento, a city central in the Mezzogiorno. Owing to the Ducatus Romanus of the popes, which cut it off from the rest of Lombard Italy, Benevento was from the first practically...

. The city repelled repeated assaults by the Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...

s. As an independent seaport, Molfetta traded with other Mediterranean markets, including Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

, Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

, Syria, Amalfi
Amalfi
Amalfi is a town and comune in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno, c. 35 km southeast of Naples. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto , surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery...

 and Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...

.

At the beginning of the 11th century the Normans arrived, and the autonomy that the city preserved helped foster its development as both a commercial port with the east, and as port of embarcation for pilgrims heading to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...

. The Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...

  permitted the city to assume a wider importance. Among the many pilgrims was Conrad of Bavaria, who was so enamoured of the city that he became venerated as San Corrado, the protecting saint of Molfetta. During the Angevin
Capetian House of Anjou
The Capetian House of Anjou, also known as the House of Anjou-Sicily and House of Anjou-Naples, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet. Founded by Charles I of Sicily, a son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century...

 dominion the city succeeded in remaining autonomous. However, the arrival of the Aragonese kingdom to Southern Italy, spurred turbulent struggles between French, Spanish and Italians. These wars provoked death and destruction in the whole south of Italy: the Sack of Molfetta at the hands of the French, July 18–19, 1529, was an episode that stalled the economic rebirth of the city.

In February 2006, Molfetta hosted International Youth Parliament, an event which took place the previous year in Canterbury.

Main sights

  • Il Pulo is one of the most important Neolithic
    Neolithic
    The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

     sites of southern Italy. It is a circular cave 23 m deep with grottoes and remains of old constructions.
  • The Duomo of San Corrado was built in the 12th–13th centuries in Apulian-Romanesque style, using local stone on a basilica
    Basilica
    The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

     plan, a nave with two aisles divided by four central cross-shaped pilasters. The floor has two domes. From the apse area rise two 20 m towers, one of which acted as watchtower, the other as the usual campanile
    Campanile
    Campanile is an Italian word meaning "bell tower" . The term applies to bell towers which are either part of a larger building or free-standing, although in American English, the latter meaning has become prevalent.The most famous campanile is probably the Leaning Tower of Pisa...

    . The interior has some notable religious furnitures from the 16th century
  • Several watchtowers, such as the Torre Calderina (15th century) on the seaside, and the Torrione Passari, inglobated in the town's walls.
  • The church of S. Maria Assunta in Cielo, was built by the Jesuits from 1610. It houses the remains of the city's patron, San Corrado of Bavaria, in a silver reliquary bust of the saint (17th century) by G. Todaro.
  • The church of San Bernardino da Siena (1451, rebuilt in 1585)includes a triptych by Duccio d'Andrea (15th century) and other later paintings. Notable is the Renaissance choir. The annexed convent is now the Palazzo Civico (town hall).
  • The church of Santo Stefano, built from 1286, but with a Renaissance stone façade added in 1586.
  • Palazzo Giovene is a 16th century palace, now used as Town Hall. It has a notable Renaissance style portal
  • The church of Santa Maria Consolatrice degli Afflitti, simply known as Chiesa del Purgatorio, dating from 1643 and consecrated in 1667. The façade has statues representing Sts. Stephen, Peter, Paul and Lawrence and, on the two side summits, those of St. Joaquim and St. Anne. The interior houses paintings by Bernardo Cavallino
    Bernardo Cavallino
    Bernardo Cavallino was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, working in Naples.Born in Naples, he likely died during the plague epidemic in 1656. While his paintings are some of the more stunningly expressive works emerging from the Neapolitan artists of his day, little is known about the...

     and native-son Corrado Giaquinto
    Corrado Giaquinto
    Corrado Giaquinto was an Italian Rococo painter.-Early training and move to Rome:He was born in Molfetta. As a boy he apprenticed with a modest local painter Saverio Porta, , escaping the religious career his parents had intended for him...

    .
  • The church of San Pietro Apostolo, simply called "San Pietro
    San Pietro
    San Pietro is Italian for Saint Peter – see also Saint Peter .It may also refer to:- Churches :* Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano* Antica basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano* San Pietro di Castello in Venice...

    's Church", just existing in 12th century, but with the actual 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...

     façade and bell tower, situated in the old town, at the begin of the street of the some name, near the Municipio Square.
  • The Temple of Calvary, a small Neo-Gothic construction built in 1856 and designed by the local architect Corrado De Judicibus.
  • Two km outside the city in the direction of Bisceglie
    Bisceglie
    Bisceglie is a town and comune on the Adriatic Sea, with a population of c. 54,000, in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, Apulia , southern Italy....

    , is the basilica-sanctuary of the Madonna dei Martiri. The current nave of the church is partially built over the old 11th century church, of which only a dome and the underlying structure remain, in today's altar area. Annexed is the Crusaders Hospital, also from the 11th century. The basilica conserves an image that was a votive gift of some Crusaders in 1188.

Famous people

Personalities from Molfetta include the Rococo painter Corrado Giaquinto
Corrado Giaquinto
Corrado Giaquinto was an Italian Rococo painter.-Early training and move to Rome:He was born in Molfetta. As a boy he apprenticed with a modest local painter Saverio Porta, , escaping the religious career his parents had intended for him...

, the anti-fascist politician and writer Gaetano Salvemini
Gaetano Salvemini
Gaetano Salvemini was an Italian anti-fascist politician, historian and writer.- Biography :Salvemini was born in Molfetta, Apulia....

, the conductor Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...

 and the rapper Caparezza
Caparezza
Caparezza , pseudonym of Michele Salvemini, born 9 October 1973) is an Italian rapper. Born in Molfetta, Apulia, Caparezza debuted in 1997 at the Sanremo Festival under the name "MikiMix".-Biography and music:...

.

Migration

During the times of the mass migration of Italians mainly post World War II, many Molfettese residents migrated to a town in Australia called Port Pirie. The culture of Molfetta is celebrated in Port Pirie and officials of both Port Pirie and Molfetta have close links today. In the United States, many Molfettese immigrants settled in the city of Hoboken, NJ, where a substantial enclave still exists today

External links





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