A SEAPORT AND ITS STORIES

Get a feel for a typical day in a busy southern Italian port town on a guided tour of Bari, Apulia’s capital city. Your private guide will meet you at your hotel and lead you on an engrossing trail through the historic neighbourhood of Bari Vecchia, allowing you to experience the city – and its inhabitants – in all their riotous colour.

Life spills onto the streets here: you will come across women seated outside their front doors, busily preparing traditional orecchiette; hear the irrepressible laughter of children playing in the piazzas; notice laundry pegged onto washing lines strung across the streets fluttering in the sea breeze; breathe in the delectable aroma of freshly made focaccia that wafts through the air.

The old quarter sits on a headland jutting out into the Adriatic Sea and has been the pulsing heart of Bari ever since its beginnings in the 3rd century BC. Tucked away within a beautifully-preserved medieval street plan lie hundreds of years of history waiting to be explored. Weave your way through Bari Vecchia’s labyrinth of narrow alleys and unravel its unique web of charms. En route your guide will reveal some captivating legends that have become part of the city’s biography and share with you anecdotes about the Barese way of life.

A visit to the vibrant fish market will allow you to catch a glimpse of the true Bari and take away a faithful impression of the local reality. While you amble past stalls brimming with the morning’s fresh catch, hear the raucous cries of hawkers calling out in dialect to encourage passing trade and watch bargainers as they haggle for the best deal.

You will then take a peek inside the 11th century Basilica of San Nicola, a masterpiece of Romanesque architecture and one of southern Italy’s major pilgrimage destinations. The church is dedicated to St. Nicholas, better known today as Santa Claus, and was especially built to safeguard his remains. These were retrieved from the saint’s original resting place – not in Lapland, but Myra, modern Turkey – by a group of zealous sailors in 1087. Enjoy the true stories about the gift-bringing saint and discover which supernatural powers are attributed to his much venerated relics. Among the precious treasures housed inside the church are also an elaborate stone canopy, exquisitely carved capitals and the striking 11th century Cattedra di Elia, a bishop’s marble throne featuring grimacing men bent in their efforts to support the seat.

Not to be missed on your stroll about town are two more landmarks: the 12th century Cathedral of San Sabino, another feat of Romanesque architecture, and the Castello Svevo, an imposing fortress built by Emperor Frederick II between 1233 and 1240, complete with moat and ramparts.

As you cross Piazza del Ferrarese, your guide will certainly point out a portion of the ancient Traiana road and paint a vivid picture of the scene in Bari in Roman times, when its fortunes as a thriving trade centre first began. In Piazza Mercantile a small column guarded by a lion still stands as a reminder of 16th century punishments and marks the spot where debtors and those guilty of bankruptcy were tied bare-bottomed and exposed to public mockery.

But there are more than just ancient tales to catch your fancy. Indulge in the city’s contemporary pleasures. Much of Bari’s culture and lifestyle revolves around food and, as you will have the chance to see and savour, its gastronomic triumphs are no less astounding than its artistic wonders. You may stop to recharge with a mid-morning espresso, taste freshly baked goodies from a renowned boulangerie and drop in at a delicatessen offering an irresistible array of prime quality cured meats.

Soak up the unique flavours of Bari, and if you wish, take some of them away with you!