Polignano a Mare (; 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 it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

, southern Italy, located on the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

. The local economy mostly depends on tourism, agriculture and fishing.

History

The area has been settled since prehistoric times, evidenced by archaeological excavations in the locality of Santa Barbara. It is believed to be the site of the ancient Greek city of '' Neapolis'' of Apulia. Nowadays, some historians suggest that this latter was one of the two colonies founded during the IV century b.C. by

Dionysius II of Syracuse Dionysius the Younger ( el, Διονύσιος ὁ Νεώτερος, 343 BC), or Dionysius II, was a Greek politician who ruled Syracuse, Sicily from 367 BC to 357 BC and again from 346 BC to 344 BC. Biography Dionysius II of Syracuse was the s ...

; other sources, instead, claim

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

as the father of Polignano a Mare, which might have been a central hub along the well-known

Via Traiana Via Appia ''(white)'' and Via Traiana ''(red)'' The Via Traiana was an ancient Roman road. It was built by the emperor Trajan as an extension of the Via Appia from Beneventum, reaching Brundisium (Brindisi) by a shorter route (i.e. via Canusi ...

. Thanks to its strategic position on the Adriatic Sea, it soon became a trade centre, at least until the introduction of a Greek coin bearing the "NEAII" inscription. The foreign dominations led the town to a greater development and recognition. 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 ...

, in the VI century, turned it into a municipal structure; subsequently, it was dominated by the Normans, who, during the XI century made the local economy thrive by boosting the production of the olive oil. The fortification of the suburb, on the other hand, has plainly to be attributed to the Angioinians, who secured the protection of the land from potential threats including the Turkish army and the different kinds of epidemics. Under the Aragonese crown, Polignano reached its peak in both economic and cultural terms; this meant business men and merchants coming from different parts of the world meeting there soon afterwards.

Landmarks

* Fondazione Museo "Pino Pascali" * Palazzo dell'Orologio *

Abbey of San Vito Martire The Abbey of San Vito Martire is a cultural attraction located in Apulia, Southern Italy, three miles north of Polignano a Mare. History An example of the combination of both Baroque and Romanesque architecture, the holy building had a tro ...

*Church of Santa Maria Assunta *The

Grotta Palazzese Hotel Grotta may refer to: * Grotto (Italian: ''Grotta''), a small natural or artificial cave * Grótta, a tied island in Seltjarnarnes, Iceland * Grótta Sports Club in Iceland * , an archaeological site in Naxos after which the Grotta-Pelos cult ...

*Lama Monachile Lama Monachile Arpa 2022

Transport

Polignano a Mare is served by

Polignano a Mare railway station Polignano a Mare ( it, Stazione di Polignano a Mare) is a railway station in the Italian town of Polignano a Mare, in the Province of Bari, Apulia. The station lies on the Adriatic Railway (Ancona–Lecce). The train services are operated by Tre ...

Twin towns

San Miniato San Miniato is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pisa, in the region of Tuscany, Italy. San Miniato sits at an historically strategic location atop three small hills where it dominates the lower Arno valley, between the valleys of Ego ...

, Italy *

Forio Forio (known also as ''Forio of Ischia'') is a town and '' comune'' of c. 17,000 inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Naples, southern Italy, situated on the island of Ischia. Overview Its territory includes the town of Panza, the only ''fraz ...

, Italy

References

External links

* *
Official websiteViaggiare in Puglia
(Italian)
ProLoco Polignano
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polignano A Mare Cities and towns in Apulia Coastal towns in Apulia