모두그노‬에서 가장 멋진 ‪7‬개의 동굴

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

spectacular medieval city

It is accessed via the S.S. 16 for Santo Spirito, turning right onto the Palmeto della Sete road, you pass the level crossing and following the railway you reach the Pappalettere road, which leads to the complex.

In the aforementioned locality, the majestic shape of a large building almost in the shape of a castle still stands, to which the ruins of the small church dedicated to S. Francesco da Paola adhere. Until not long ago, a stone inscription located in the entrance architrave overlooking state road 16 towards Bari was legible and visible. The complex built on two floors dates back to the 17th century. There are other buildings used as stables or warehouses. The church has a neoclassical style facade, inside there is a fresco that served as an outline for a sacred image that was on the altar, both of which do not exist today. At the corners of the main building there are the cats that held the sentry boxes. An external stone staircase gives access to the first floor. At the back of the complex there are two buildings with gable roofs and chiancarelle roofs. Everything, including the garden, is fenced. The church was built in the mid-seventeenth century and perhaps intended as a convent for the Minimum Friars of S. Francesco da Paola. The name of the place "Pappalettere" recalls one of the owners who succeeded over time. The lapidary inscription indicates that the entire private building was built by the rich man from Giovinazzo, Mariano de Cicco.

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.

A beautiful, very Italian city 🤩