The Port of Taranto ( it, Porto di Taranto) is a port serving

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...

, southeastern Italy. One of the first in Italy for goods traffic, it is located on the northern coast of the gulf and plays an important role commercially and strategically. It has three entrances, two of which are operational. Its management is entrusted to the Port Authority, which is based within the port. Since 2011 the container terminal has been run by the Taranto Container Terminal SpA, which is 60% owned by Hutchison Whampoa and 40% owned by Evergreen Marine Corporation.

History

Roman times

During the Second Punic War Taranto (then called Tarentum) was first captured by the

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

during the

Battle of Tarentum (212 BC) The Battle of Tarentum in March 212 BC was a military engagement in the Second Punic War. Prelude The Romans had been waiting for a chance to strike at Capua, the capital of Campania in southern Italy, after it revolted against them following ...

and then recaptured 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 ...

in the

Battle of Tarentum (209 BC) The Battle of Tarentum of 209 BC was a battle in the Second Punic War. The Romans, led by Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, recaptured the city of Tarentum that had betrayed them in the first Battle of Tarentum in 212 BC. This time the comma ...

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, there were two important military operation in

, the

Battle of Taranto The Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11–12 November 1940 during the Second World War between British naval forces, under Admiral Andrew Cunningham, and Italian naval forces, under Admiral Inigo Campioni. The Royal Navy launched ...

in 1940 and

Operation Slapstick Operation Slapstick was the code name for a British landing from the sea at the Italian port of Taranto during the Second World War. The operation, one of three landings during the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943, was undertaken by ...

in 1943.

References

Ports and harbours of Italy Taranto {{Italy-struct-stub