Situation and importance
Bari, capital of the region of Apulia and the province of the same name, lies in southern Italy - on the Adriatic coast. It is the largest city in Apulia and the second largest in southern Italy after Naples.
The port of Bari, a leading
commercial and industrial center (petrochemicals and shipbuilding), is particularly important by virtue of its trade with the eastern Mediterranean. It is also the see of an archbishop and possesses a university and a naval college.
The picturesque old town, with its narrow winding streets, frequently spanned by arches, lies to the north, on a promontory between the old and new harbors. To the south is the spacious and regularly planned new town, which has developed considerably since 1930, when the Levant Fair was first held here.
History
The ancient Barium was a place of little importance. Until it was captured by Robert Guiscard in 1071 it was used by the Byzantines as their main base in southern Italy. From 1324 it was an almost independent fief which finally passed to the kingdom of Naples in 1558.
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