Trani () is a
seaport
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...
of
Apulia
Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...
,
Southern Italy, on the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...
, by
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
west-northwest of
Bari
Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...
. It is one of the capital cities of the
province of Barletta-Andria-Trani (BAT).
History
Overview
The city of ''Turenum'' appears for the first time in the , a 13th-century copy of an ancient Roman
itinerary. The name, also spelled ''Tirenum'', was that of the
Greek hero Diomedes. The city was later occupied by the
Lombards and the
Byzantines. First certain news of an urban settlement in Trani, however, trace back only to the 9th century.
The most flourishing age of Trani was the 11th century, when it became an
episcopal see
An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...
in place of
Canosa, destroyed by the
Saracens. Its port, well placed for the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
, then developed greatly, becoming the most important on the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...
. In the year 1063 Trani issued the ''
Ordinamenta et consuetudo maris'', which is "the oldest surviving maritime law code of the Latin West".
[Paul Oldfield, ''City and Community in Norman Italy'' (Oxford: 2009), 247.] There was also Jewish community in Trani, which was under the protection of the king until it was given to the Archbishop
Samarus during the reign of
Henry VI at the end of the 12th century. In that period many great families from the main Italian Maritime Republics (
Amalfi,
Pisa,
Genova and
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
) established themselves in Trani. Trani, in turn, maintained a
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...
in
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
from 12th century. The presence of other consulates in many northern Europe centres, even in England and Netherlands, shows Trani's trading and political importance in the Middle Ages. Emperor
Frederick II built a massive castle in Trani. Under his rule, in the early 13th century, the city reached its highest point of wealth and prosperity.
There was some economic progress during the nineteenth century, and by 1881 the population had reached 25,647. Trani at this time was an important trading point for wines, fruits and grain.
Jewish history
Benjamin of Tudela visited Trani in around 1159, following this visit he found 200 Jewish families living there. By the 12th century, Trani already housed one of the largest
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
communities of
Southern Italy, and was the birthplace of one of the greatest medieval rabbis of Italy:
Rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
Isaiah ben Mali di Trani (c. 1180–1250), a prolific and prominent commentator and
halakhic authority. The great
talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
ist Rabbi
Moses ben Joseph di Trani (1505–1585) was born in
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
, three years after his family had fled there from Trani due to
antisemitic persecution.
Trani entered a crisis under the
Anjou and
Aragonese rule (14th–16th centuries), as its Jewish component was persecuted under Dominican pressure. Under the
House of Bourbon, however, Trani recovered a certain splendour, thanks to the generally improved condition of Southern Italy economy and the construction of several magnificent buildings. Trani was province capital until the
Napoleonic age, when
Joachim Murat deprived it of this status in favour of
Bari
Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...
. In 1799, moreover, the French troops provoked a massacre of Trani's population, as it had adhered to the
Neapolitan Republic.
The
Scolanova Synagogue survives and, after many centuries as a church, has been rededicated as a synagogue. The church of
Sant'Anna is another medieval former synagogue.
Geography
Located by the
Adriatic Coast, between
Barletta and
Bisceglie, Trani borders with the municipalities of
Andria, Barletta, Bisceglie and
Corato, in the
Province of Bari.
Main sights
Trani has lost its old
city walls and
bastions, but the 13th-century fort has been extensively restored as a museum and performance venue and is open to the public. Some of the streets in and around the Ghetto area remain much as they were in the
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
period, and many of the houses display more or less of
Norman decoration.
The main church is ''
Trani Cathedral'', dedicated to Saint
Nicholas the Pilgrim, a
Greek who died in Trani in 1094 while on his way on pilgrimage to Rome, and some years later was canonized by
Urban II. It lies on a raised open site near the sea, and was consecrated, before its completion, in 1143. It is a basilica with three apses, built in the characteristic white local
limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
. It has also a large
crypt
A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...
and a lofty tower, the latter erected in 1230–1239 by the architect whose name appears on the ambo in the cathedral of
Bitonto, Nicolaus Sacerdos. It has an
arch under it, being supported partly on the side wall of the church, and partly on a massive pillar. The arches of the
Romanesque portal are beautifully ornamented, in a manner suggestive of
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
influence; the bronze doors, executed by Barisanus of Trani in 1175, rank among the best of their period in
Southern Italy.
[Comparable doors by Barisanus are at Ravello and Monreale. David A. Walsh, "The Iconography of the Bronze Doors of Barisanus of Trani" ''Gesta'' 21.2 (1982:91-106).] The capitals of the pillars in the crypt are fine examples of the Romanesque. The interior of the cathedral has been widely modernized,
[ but the crypt remains similar to the origins and was a renowned repository of relics, among which the body of the martyr St. Febronia of Nisibis. One can still enjoy a precious reliquary of the eighteenth century and an oval painting depicting the Saint at the Diocesan Museum.
Near the harbor is the Gothic ''Palace of the Doges of ]Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
'', which is now used as a seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
. The ''Church of Ognissanti'' which at one stage was the chapel of a Knights Templar hospital has a Romanesque relief of the Annunciation
The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...
over the door. ''San Giacomo'' and ''San Francesco'' also have Romanesque façades; the latter, together with ''Sant'Andrea'', have Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
domes.[
]
Government
Economy
The territory of Trani produces an excellent wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
, Moscato di Trani; and its figs, olive oil
Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil.
It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...
, almond
The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...
s and grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...
are also profitable articles of trade.[
]
People
* Giustina Rocca, world's first female lawyer died in 1502
* Manfred, King of Sicily and son of Frederick II, who married Helena Ducas here in 1259
* Giovanni Bovio, philosopher and politician
* Antonio Piccinni, painter, born in 1846 and died in 1920
* Rosalino Cellamare, singer
* Emilio Covelli, anarchist and socialist
* Leone di Lernia, singer
* Jennie George, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n politician and Australian trade unionist
* Domenico Sarro, composer
* Riccardo Scamarcio, actor and producer
* Rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
Isaiah ben Mali di Trani (c. 1180–1250), a prolific and prominent commentator and halakhic authority
See also
* U.S. Calcio Trani
* Trani railway station
* Dialoghi di Trani
References
External links
Official website
Trani portal
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Apulia
Coastal towns in Apulia
Port cities and towns of the Adriatic Sea
Jewish Italian history
Jewish communities in Italy
Territories of the Republic of Venice