Cassano delle Murge ( Barese: ) is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

Metropolitan City of Bari The Metropolitan City of Bari ( it, Città Metropolitana di Bari) is a metropolitan city in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Bari. It replaced the Province of Bari and includes the city of Bari and some forty other municipali ...

, Apulia, southern Italy.

Origins of the name

It probably derives from the Latin name Cassius with the addition of the suffix ''-anus''. According to others, the name refers to the ancient worship for

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; la, Ianvs ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janu ...

to whom a small temple was dedicated, that is Jani's house. From this derives the toponym of the town "Casa Jani" Actually this derivation, proposed by the historian Nicola Alessandrelli, is rather doubtful, as "house" in Latin corresponds to ''domus''. An alternative hypothesis is that the name derives from the

Cassia gens The gens Cassia was a Roman family of great antiquity. The earliest members of this gens appearing in history may have been patrician, but all those appearing in later times were plebeians. The first of the Cassii to obtain the consulship was Sp ...

. In the high imperial age the whole Puglia was object of centuriation by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, so it could be Cassianum, that is property of the Cassia family. From archeological excavations carried out, it seems that the

cardo A cardo (plural ''cardines'') was a north–south street in Ancient Roman cities and military camps as an integral component of city planning. The cardo maximus, or most often the ''cardo'', was the main or central north–south-oriented street ...

maximus (Via Sanges-Via Cavour axis) and the

Decumanus Maximus In Roman urban planning, a decumanus was an east–west-oriented road in a Roman city or castrum (military camp). The main decumanus of a particular city was the Decumanus Maximus, or most often simply "the Decumanus". In the rectangular street gr ...

(Via Gentile-Via Magg. Turitto axis) intersected in the current Piazzetta delle Quattro Colonne. Moreover, Cassano, stands on a link road between the Traiana way and the

Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is ...

and it seems that the town was a rest station and a Camino dei cavalli. Recently, a Romanic

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

was discovered under the pavement of Miani Palace, which would prove the existence of a

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...

, in compliance with the custom of building the most important buildings near the most important crossroads. In Italy there are seven towns called Cassano, so in 1862 " delle Murge" was added to distinguish it from the others. The specification refers to the well-known Apulian plateau. Cassano delle Murge (vista panoramica)

History

Prehistoric Age

Hundreds of stone artifacts, paintings, various objects found in the caves around the town tell us about prehistoric settlements. The recent discovery of a menhir, dating back to 2500–2000 BC., confirms the antiquity of the human presence in these districts.

Roman Age

The origins of Cassano seem to date back to the Roman Age, as confirmed by many archaeological finding, such as the recent discovery of a precious 5th century

floor. Also in

late antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

, in a point of the territory called "Lake of Battaglia" a clash relating to the Greek- Gothic War took place between the army of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and the troops of the Gothic

Totila Totila, original name Baduila (died 1 July 552), was the penultimate King of the Ostrogoths, reigning from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of the Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the t ...

, during which it would have distinguished itself, for courage, a Cassanese woman dressed as a warrior, distinguished herself, for courage and heroism. To worship her memory, her companions erected a monument to her with a pile of stones, still known today as "Specchia di femina morta". Due to the typical karstic conformation of the area, there are a lot of grottos. The biggest is located about 3 km from the urban built up area, the grotto called "di Cristo", was discovered in the 17th century. Two kilometers to the east we find the grave of "Pasciullo", 180 meters deep and still to be explored. Three kilometers to the south-east, a source called "Pozzo di Conetto" gushes. Historical investigations have ascertained the existence of a temple dedicated to

in the place where the church of SS. Crucifix is.

Physical geography

Weather

The weather of Cassano delle Murge is a cool Mediterranean one, with not very cold winters and hot and dry summers. Rainfall is around 700 mm / year, therefore generally abundant in winter, autumn and spring and rare in summer, from July to September, although there are also thunderstorms in the afternoon. Snow falls almost exclusively in January and February, during the cold air waves from the Balkans or from the North Europe. In winter the prevailing wind is the sirocco or libeccio.

Monuments and Places of interest

Religious architectures

* Convento di Maria Santissima degli Angeli * Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta (chiesa matrice – sede parrocchiale) * Chiesa della Madonna delle Grazie (sede parrocchiale) * Chiesa del Santissimo Crocifisso * Chiesa di San Giuseppe * Chiesa di San Nicola * Chiesa di San Rocco * Cappella dell'Immacolata * Cappella della Madonna di Costantinopoli

Civil architectures

* Miani Palace

Society

Demographic evolution

Inhabitants registered by

Istituto Nazionale di Statistica The Italian National Institute of Statistics ( it, Istituto nazionale di statistica; Istat) is the main producer of official statistics in Italy. Its activities include the census of population, economic censuses and a number of social, economic ...

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Ethnicities and foreign minorities

The foreigners living in Cassano delle Murge are 553. In 2013, the most numerous groups were: *

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, 402 *

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, 122

Culture

Cinema

Cassano delle Murge has been transformed into a film set on several occasion. Between 1930 and 1931, the milanese director Mauri made one of the last silent movies of the Italian cinema, but one of the first silent movies turned in

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

. ''Idillio infranto – Film folkloristico pugliese'', this title had the female Mantovani protagonist Mantovani and a cast amateur actors, with Michele Silecchia and Filippo Ilbello. Shootings were carried out by the photographer Perugini and some scenes were filmed in the countryside of the Murgia, near Cassano delle Murge. The movie, in black and white, lasts 53 minutes. Another movie is '' Three brothers'' (1981), a film by

Francesco Rosi Francesco Rosi (; 15 November 1922 – 10 January 2015) was an Italian film director. His film '' The Mattei Affair'' won the Palme d'Or at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. Rosi's films, especially those of the 1960s and 1970s, often appeared to ha ...

with

Michele Placido Michele Placido (; born 19 May 1946) is an Italian actor, film director, and screenwriter. He began his career on stage, and first gained mainstream attention through a series of roles in films directed by the likes of Mario Monicelli and Marco ...

Philippe Noiret Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor. Life and career Noiret was born in Lille, France, the son of Lucy (Heirman) and Pierre Noiret, a clothing company representative. He was an indifferent student and ...

Vittorio Mezzogiorno Vittorio Mezzogiorno (16 December 1941 – 7 January 1994) was an Italian actor. Biography Mezzogiorno was born in Cercola, the youngest of seven children. His older brother Vincenzo, who wanted to become a director, introduced him to the thea ...

Charles Vanel Charles-Marie Vanel (21 August 1892 – 15 April 1989) was a French actor and director. During his 76-year film career, which began in 1912, he appeared in more than 200 films and worked with many prominent directors, including Alfred Hitchcock ...

. In 2004 the Apulian director

Sergio Rubini Sergio Rubini (born 21 December 1959) is an Italian actor, film director and screenwriter. Life and career Rubini was born in Grumo Appula, Apulia, but soon moved to Rome to study acting. After some roles in theater, he debuted in a feature ...

filmed ''

Love Returns ''Love Returns'' ( it, L'amore ritorna) is a 2004 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Sergio Rubini. For her performance Giovanna Mezzogiorno won the Nastro d'Argento for best supporting actress. Cast * Fabrizio Bentivoglio: Luca Florio ...

'', with

Margherita Buy Margherita Buy (born 15 January 1962) is an Italian actress. She is a seven-time David di Donatello Awards winner and seven-time Nastro d'argento winner. Overview After a long period of studying at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, she made her b ...

and

Mariangela Melato Mariangela Melato (19 September 1941 – 11 January 2013) was an Italian cinema and theater actress. She began her stage career in the 1960s. Her first film role was in ''Thomas e gli indemoniati'' (1969), directed by Pupi Avati. She played in ma ...

Art

In 2016 the Apulia Land art Festival was held by Massimo Nardi. Over 20 countries in the world, took part, almost 100 artists asked to take part, and 11 of them were invited for the final competition. Embassies of every culture, the artists of the recent edition of ALAF were characterized by extremely different, heterogeneous and, at the same time, complementary curricula. Harvard, Cambridge, University College of London, IED, Academy of Bulgaria and many others, are the institutions represented, making an urbi et orbi of art in the silvanico Bosco di Mesola, which, as expected by the festival's statements, becomes, for a week, one of the protagonists of the Italian contemporary art scenes.

Economy

Handicraft

Among the most traditional and renowned activities there are

handicraft A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

s, which are distinguished by the production of

wicker Wicker is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as 5,000 years ago. It was first documented in ancient Egypt using pliable plant material, but in modern times it is made from any pliable, easily woven material. ...

and

Juncus ''Juncus'' is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants, commonly known as rushes. It is the largest genus in the family Juncaceae, containing around 300 species. Description Rushes of the genus ''Juncus'' are herbaceous plants that superfici ...

, used for the creation of furniture.

List of mayors

Below there is a table relating to the successive administrations in this town.

Sport

* ASD Atletico Cassano –

Futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...

amateur football club, member of the serie A2 championship. * ASD Volley Cassano – Amateur

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

club member of the youth sector and of the serie D championship. * ASD Cassano skating – Amateur roller skating society that annually participates in regional and national championships.

Notable people

* Antonio Quatraro, European Commission official. * Domenico Turitto, Italian officer during the

First Italo-Ethiopian War The First Italo-Ethiopian War, lit. ''Abyssinian War'' was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from 1895 to 1896. It originated from the disputed Treaty of Wuchale, which the Italians claimed turned Ethiopia into an Italian protectorate. Full-sc ...

Anna Rita Del Piano Anna Rita Del Piano, real name Anna Rita Viapiano (born 26 July 1966, in Cassano delle Murge), is an Italian people, Italian actress and theater director. Biography Anna Rita Viapiano was born in Cassano delle Murge, where she lived his chi ...

, Italian actress and theater director

References

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