Punto de interés
Taranto
Recomendado por 161 habitantes locales,
Consejos de residentes locales
Piera
May 4, 2018
ideale lo shopping in centro
Giovanna
March 29, 2022
Visit the fish market in the old city or have the best fish meal of your life.
Pietro
August 23, 2019
To visit local ancient history and a less touristy spot of Puglia.
Vita
May 4, 2016
Beautiful City with important museum and lots art.
Claudio
December 21, 2019
The real charm of Taranto, located on the beautiful Ionian Sea, lies in its contradictory nature. On the one hand, it is a city full of fishermen and mussels, on the other, it is a huge naval port, full of warships and submarines. Its tormented history, a consequence of its strategic position in the Mediterranean, has left a legacy that makes the town well worth a visit. Allied to this is its unique setting and shape, positioned, as it is, around two large bays: the Mar Grande, where the commercial port is located, and the Mar Piccolo, flanked by the old town centre, where the fishing fleet flourishes and the city can be appreciated in its purest form. Thanks to the presence of these two bays, Taranto is known as "the city of the two seas". Taranto boasts a fascinating diversity of architectural styles, the result of the numerous invasions suffered by the city throughout its history. Under the Greeks the town became one of Magna Graecia’s most significant commercial hubs and the most powerful colony in southern Italy. Its moment of greatest splendour came at the beginning of the 4th century BC under the rule of the great statesman, mathematician, philosopher (and friend of Plato), Archytas. During the Roman Republic, Taranto retained its status as an important Mediterranean centre, but under the rule of the Roman Empire it fell into decline. Emperor Trajan redirected the Via Appia to Bari on the Adriatic coast and Taranto’s provincial fate was sealed. After the Romans, Taranto became part of the Byzantine Empire and then, for just forty years, was ruled by the Saracens. The 11th century was characterized by a bloody struggle between the Normans and the Byzantines, both of whom coveted the fertile agricultural Tarentine lands. The former came out victorious and Taranto became the capital of a Norman principality for almost four centuries. In subsequent centuries, Taranto witnessed invasions by the Spanish and the French, but with the fall of Napoleon, southern Italy and Taranto returned under Bourbon rule, becoming part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Finally, with the Risorgimento of 1861, Taranto joined the newly unified state of Italy. In the build up to and during the 1st World War, Taranto reassumed some of the importance it had known over 2,000 years ago, as it became home to the Italian naval fleet. This role continued into the 2nd World War and the city became a target for the Allied forces. On the night of 10th November 1940, the Regina Marina fleet, anchored in the Mar Grande and the Mar Piccolo, was severely damaged by British naval forces in the so-called Battle of Taranto. This raid was the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack (planes flying from an aircraft carrier to bomb an enemy fleet) and it gave rise to a whole new trend in military tactics. As Admiral Cunningham noted, "Taranto should be remembered for ever as having shown once and for all that in the Fleet Air Arm, the Navy has its most devastating weapon.” Three years later, on 9th September, British forces landed near Taranto as part of the Allied invasion that would slowly push north through the Italian peninsula.
The real charm of Taranto, located on the beautiful Ionian Sea, lies in its contradictory nature. On the one hand, it is a city full of fishermen and mussels, on the other, it is a huge naval port, full of warships and submarines. Its tormented history, a consequence of its strategic position in the…
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Ubicación
Taranto, Apulia