Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Barletta (Italy). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Eraclio, Barletta Cathedral, and Pinacoteca Giuseppe de Nittis. Also, be sure to include Castello Svevo in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Barletta (Apulia).
Table of Contents
Eraclio
Also known as: Colosso di Barletta
Art. The Colossus of Barletta is a large bronze statue of a Roman emperor, nearly three times life size in Barletta, Italy.
The statue supposedly washed up on a shore, after a Venetian ship sank returning from the Sack of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade in 1204, but it is not impossible that the statue was sent to the West much earlier. The identity of the emperor is uncertain. According to tradition, it depicts Heraclius (reign 610–641 AD); though this is most unlikely on historical and art-historical grounds. More likely subjects are Theodosius II (reign 402–450 AD), who may have had it erected in Ravenna in 439, Honorius (reign 393–423 AD), Valentinian I (r. 364–375), Marcian (r. 450–457), Justinian I (r. 527–565) and especially Leo I (r. 457–474), in which case it probably topped his Column of Leo, from which fragments remain in Istanbul.
It is known that a colossal statue was discovered in 1231–1232 during excavations commissioned by emperor Frederick II in Ravenna, and is not improbable that he had it transported to his southern Italian lands. The first certain news about the statue date however from 1309, when parts of its legs and arms were used by local Dominicans to cast bells. The missing parts were remade in the 15th century.
The statue evidently depicts an emperor, identifiable from his imperial diadem and his commanding gesture that invokes the act of delivering a speech, with his right arm raised, holding a cross, although this is a later addition when the statue was being repaired and in place of the cross there was originally a spear or a military standard. The emperor wears a cuirass over his short tunic. His cloak is draped over his left arm in a portrait convention that goes back to Augustus. In his outstretched left hand he holds a small orb, another later addition to replace a larger original orb. His diademed head wears a Gothic jewel, similar to the one worn by Aelia Eudoxia, mother of Theodosius II. The emperor's face is rigid with strong jaw and high cheekbones with short shaved beard, his eyes being directed upwards.[1]
Address: Corso Vittorio Emanuele, 20, 76121 Barletta
Barletta Cathedral
Also known as: Cattedrale di Barletta
Cathedral in Barletta, Italy. Barletta Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Barletta, Apulia, southern Italy. Formerly the seat of the archbishops of Barletta and Nazareth, it is currently a co-cathedral in the Archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie. It was built in two different styles, Romanesque and Gothic, from the 12th century to the 14th century.[2]
Address: Via del Duomo, 70051 Barletta
Pinacoteca Giuseppe de Nittis
The "Giuseppe De Nittis" Art Gallery is a museum in Barletta, dedicated to the painter Giuseppe De Nittis, whose collection of paintings it preserves and exhibits. Set up in the Palazzo della Marra on Via Cialdini, the picture gallery periodically hosts temporary exhibitions.
Address: Via Cialdini, 74, 76121 Barletta
Castello Svevo
Forts and castles
Address: Piazza Castello, 76121 Barletta
Basilica del Santo Sepolcro
Church
Address: Corso Vittorio Emanuele, 76121 Barletta
Chiesa di San Gaetano
The church of St. Gaetano was founded in the 17th century by the order of Theatines, who arrived in Barletta in the early years of the century. The building complex on which the church stands was already present at the time of the foundation and was the site of a small church dedicated to St. Joseph. The church and convent were later transformed, taking its present name in 1667. The church is located along Cialdini Street, a street on which there are several other convent buildings, such as that of San Ruggero, Santa Maria della Vittoria, and Monte di Pietà.
Address: Via Cialdini, 76121 Barletta
Civic Museum
Also known as: Museo Civico
Museum
Palazzo della Marra
Palazzo della Marra is a building in Barletta. Of Renaissance origin and style, it has housed the De Nittis Picture Gallery since 2007.
Address: Via Cialdini, Barletta
Church of Sant'Andrea
Also known as: Chiesa di Sant'Andrea
The church of Sant'Andrea is a church located on Via Sant'Andrea, in Barletta, close to the city walls, whose location within the historic center is certainly to be considered singular and characterized by a succession of events that have returned the outcome that can be observed today. In fact, the building is elevated above street level by about five meters, and the main access can be accessed by means of a staircase that makes it possible to overcome this considerable difference in height. The side access, on the other hand, is placed at approximately the same elevation as Via Duomo, the main street of the historic center.
Address: Via Marino Bruno, 35, 76121 Barletta
Canne della Battaglia
Also known as: Canne
Village in Italy. Cannae is an ancient village of the Apulia region of south east Italy. It is a frazione of the comune of Barletta, a former bishopric and presently a Latin Catholic titular see.[3]
Church of San Giacomo
Also known as: Chiesa di San Giacomo
The curate prepositura of St. James is one of the oldest churches in Barletta. At the time of its construction the church was located outside the city walls and was situated, in a strategic position, on the road to Canne. The present religious building is the result of numerous building superimpositions that occurred over the centuries and the urbanistic events that affected the ancient San Giacomo suburb in contemporary times.
Address: Corso Vittorio Emanuele, 147, Barletta