트리지아노‬에서 가장 멋진 ‪8‬개의 동굴

I came to hang around while waiting for the boat to Albania

spectacular medieval city

With the singular shape of a starry polygon, the Angevin-Aragonese Castle imposingly dominates the coast of Mola di Bari.

The actual title was Castello Angioino, but Komoot has strangely translated it as Anjou Castle. In order to defend the coast against the numerous pirate raids, Charles I of Anjou, in conjunction with the reconstruction of the city, ordered the construction of a "palacium" near its walls in 1277. He entrusted the supervision of the work to the well-known "King of Carpenters", Pierre d'Angicourt and Jean da Toul. Two years later, the fortress was completed. Between the 15th and 16th centuries, the building suffered the same fate as the city and passed through the hands of various vassals; it withstood numerous attacks without ever being conquered. However, the considerable damage suffered by the fortress during the Venetian siege in 1508 required a major restoration, which was carried out a few years later.

The village of Mola di Bari is a fishing-tourist town. The port is active all year round and there are many restaurants where you can taste the catch of the day. The last weekend of July the octopus festival is held and you can taste dishes based on octopus and fresh fish.

Make sure to include a trip to pasta alley in the old town to see the locals making pasta by hand.

Noodle Alley

The visit to the imposing fortress surrounded by the moat that dominates the historic center of Bari is a millennium-long walk in the company of great emperors and queens. The central nucleus is of Byzantine-Norman origin, but was completely transformed by Frederick II between 1233 and 1240, restored by Charles of Anjou in the following century, while the escarpment bulwarks with corner towers were added in the Aragonese period during the XVI century. When the Aragonese donated it to the ducal Sforza family, the fortress was enlarged and embellished by the intervention of two women, mother and daughter: Isabella of Aragon, widow of Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Duchess of Bari and Bona Sforza. The castle became the seat of a court that had nothing to envy to those of the lordships of the North. We owe them the spectacular double flight of stairs that connects the ground floor to the halls of the main floor. During the Bourbon domination, however, the castle began a long period of decline and abandonment, during which it was used as a prison and barracks. Only recently, in 2017, after long restoration and enhancement works, the castle was opened to the public as a museum.