Manfredonia is a town and commune of Apulia, Italy, in the

province of Foggia The Province of Foggia ( it, Provincia di Foggia ; Foggiano: ) is a province in the Apulia (Puglia) region of southern Italy. This province is also known as Daunia, after the Daunians, an Iapygian pre-Roman tribe living in Tavoliere plain, and ...

, from which it is northeast by rail. Manfredonia is situated on the coast, facing east, to the south of

Monte Gargano Gargano (, Gargano Apulian Italo-Romance arˈgæːnə is a historical and geographical sub-region in the province of Foggia, Apulia, southeast Italy, consisting of a wide isolated mountain massif made of highland and several peaks and forming ...

, and gives its name to the gulf to the east of it. its population was 56,932.Source:
Istat 2011

History

The area of current Manfredonia was settled in ancient times by the

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, Albania, Greeks in Italy, ...

, founded by

Diomedes Diomedes (Jones, Daniel; Roach, Peter, James Hartman and Jane Setter, eds. ''Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary''. 17th edition. Cambridge UP, 2006.) or Diomede (; grc-gre, Διομήδης, Diomēdēs, "god-like cunning" or "advised by ...

. The flourishing Greek colony, having fallen into the hands of the

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan-speaking people, who may have originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they ...

, was retaken about 335 BC by King

Alexander of Epirus Alexander I of Epirus ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος Α'; c. 371 BC – 331 BC), also known as Alexander Molossus (), was a king of Epirus (343/2–331 BC) of the Aeacid dynasty.Ellis, J. R., ''Philip II and Macedonian Imperialism' ...

, uncle of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

. In 189 BC Sipontum was conquered by the Romans and became a colony of citizens. It was a port at the junction of the road which basically followed the Adriatic coast (but giving the Garganus mountain's peninsula just north a miss) and a road through Arpi, Luceria, Aecae and Aequum Tuticum connecting at Beneventum to the

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

. In AD 663 it was taken and destroyed by the Slavs (

Narentines The Narentines were a South Slavic tribe that occupied an area of southern Dalmatia centered at the river Neretva (), active in the 9th and 10th centuries, noted as pirates on the Adriatic. Named ''Narentani'' in Venetian sources, Greek sourc ...

). In the 9th century, Sipontum was for a time in the power of the

Saracens upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

. In 1042 the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. T ...

made it the seat of one of their twelve counties, while the Monte Gargano remained Byzantine. The Normans won a decisive victory there over the Byzantine general Argyrus in 1052. Siponto was an archbishopric in the Norman countship of Apulia. Having become unhealthy owing to the

stagnation Stagnation may refer to one of the following * Economic stagnation, slow or no economic growth. * Era of Stagnation, a period of economic stagnation in Soviet Union * Lost Decade (Japan), a period of economic stagnation in Japan *Stagnation in flu ...

of the water in the lagoons after the 1223 earthquake, Siponto was abandoned. The modern city of Manfredonia was built by King Manfred between 1256–1263, several kilometers north of the ruins of the ancient Sipontum. The Angevins, who had defeated Manfred and stripped him of the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...

, renamed it ''Sypontum Novellum'' ("New Sypontum"), but that name never stuck. In 1528 Manfredonia resisted a French attack led by the Viscount of Lautrec. In 1620 it was destroyed by the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

, who left only the castle and part of the walls.

Geography

Manfredonia is located in south of

Gargano Gargano (, Gargano Apulian Italo-Romance arˈgæːnə is a historical and geographical sub-region in the province of Foggia, Apulia, southeast Italy, consisting of a wide isolated mountain massif made of highland and several peaks and forming ...

. It borders with the municipalities of Carapelle, Cerignola,

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also know ...

Monte Sant'Angelo Monte Sant'Angelo ( Foggiano: ) is a town and ''comune'' of Apulia, southern Italy, in the province of Foggia, on the southern slopes of Monte Gargano. History Monte Sant'Angelo as a town appeared only in the 11th century. Between 1081 and 1103, ...

, San Giovanni Rotondo, San Marco in Lamis and Zapponeta. It counts 7 civil parishes (''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

''): Borgo Mezzanone, Riviera Sud (Sciali and Ippocampo), Pastini, Ruggiano, San Salvatore,

Siponto Siponto ( la, Sipontum, grc-gre, Σιπιούς) was an ancient port town and bishopric in Apulia, southern Italy. The town was abandoned after earthquakes in the 13th century; today the area is administered as a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' ...

and Tomaiuolo.

Main sights

Manfredonia e il suo castello Svevo Angioino

The medieval castle, begun by the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

and completed by the Angevins, and parts of the town walls are well preserved. The castle received a new line of walls in the 15th century In the church of San Domenico, the Chapel of the Maddalena contains old paintings of the 14th century. Three kilometers () to the southwest is the former Siponto Cathedral, now the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore di Siponto, built in 1117 in the Romanesque style, with a dome and crypt. The Abbey of San Leonardo in Lama Volara, nearer to

, belonging to the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

, is of the same date. Abbazia di San Leonardo in Lama Volara - particolare 03

Manfredonia is also the location of the seat of the

Archbishopric of Manfredonia-Vieste-S. Giovanni Rotondo In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

Manfredonia Cathedral Manfredonia Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Manfredonia, ''Cattedrale di San Lorenzo Maiorano'') is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Manfredonia in Italy, dedicated to Saint Laurence of Siponto ( it, Lorenzo Maiorano, "Laurence Majoranus"), one of the patron ...

, rebuilt in about 1600 after the destruction by the Turks of its 13th-century predecessor.

Transport

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

links Manfredonia to

, a distance of and to A14 motorway. Manfredonia railway station is the terminal of the Foggia-Manfredonia line. Other stations serving the municipal territory are Manfredonia Città (closed),

(in the homonymous village), Frattarolo, Candelaro and Amendola.

People

Laurence of Siponto Laurence of Siponto, also known as Laurence Maioranus ( it, Lorenzo Maiorano) (d. 7 February, c. 545), is an Italian saint, patron of the city of Manfredonia and the Archdiocese of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo. Manfredonia Cathedral is ...

(died 545), bishop, saint, patron of Manfredonia *

Vettor Pisani Vettor Pisani (132413 August 1380) was a Venetian admiral. He was in command of the Venetian fleet in 1378 during the war against the Genoese, whom he defeated off Capo d'Anzio; subsequently he recaptured Cattaro, Sebenico and Arbe, which ha ...

(1324–1380), Venetian admiral * Pino Rucher (1924–1996), guitarist and arranger

References

Sources

*A. Beltramelli, ''Il Gargano'' (Bergamo, 1907) *Westermann, ''Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte''

External links

Manfredonia official websiteManfredonia NewsManfredonia News "Stato Quotidiano"
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Apulia Castles in Italy 1256 establishments in Europe 13th-century establishments in Italy Coastal towns in Apulia