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Altamura
Altamura (/ˌæltəˈmʊərə/; Italian: [ˌaltaˈmuːra]; Barese: Jaltamure) is a town and comune of Apulia, in southern Italy. It is located on one of the hills of the Murge plateau in the Metropolitan City of Bari, 45 kilometres (28 miles) southwest of Bari, close to the border with Basilicata. As of 2017[update], its population amounts to 70,595 inhabitants.
The city is known for its particular quality of bread called Pane di Altamura, which is sold in numerous other Italian cities. The 130,000-year-old calcified Altamura Man was discovered in 1993 in the nearby limestone cave called grotta di Lamalunga.
The area of modern Altamura was densely inhabited in the Bronze Age (La Croce settlement and necropolis). The region contains some fifty tumuli. Between the 6th and the 3rd century BC a massive line of megalithic walls were erected, traces of which are still visible in some areas of the city.
The city was inhabited until around the tenth century AD. Then it was reportedly looted by Saracens. There are no reliable sources confirming what the original name of Altamura was. Inside the Tabula Peutingeriana, only Sublupatia occurs, which may refer either to Santeramo in Colle, Altamura or to a small region nearby named Jesce. Sublupatia implies that a city whose name was Lupatia was also present, even though there is no mention of Lupatia either in Tabula Peutingeriana or the Antonine Itinerary. Nevertheless Lupatia occurs in Ravenna Cosmography (Byzantine period) and in Guido of Pisa's work Geographica (Middle Ages).
According to an ancient legend, appearing for the first time in the 13th century AD, Altamura's former name was Altilia, from Alter Ilium, the "other Troy". According to a legend, it was founded by a friend of Aeneas, Antellus, also a fugitive from the Asian city destroyed by the Greeks. Another legend attributes the foundation to Althea, queen of the Myrmidons. Ottavio Serena, as early as in 1880, rejected the above legends as well as the belief that the ancient name of Altamura was Altilia, as it lacked reliable sources. Serena suggested that this name may have originated with an unknown High Middle Ages scholar who tried to provide an explanation of the ruins found in that place.
During the 15th and 16th centuries AD, Altamura was also mistaken for the ancient city of Petilia. The belief that Petilia was the ancient name of Altamura at that time was so strong that on some Italian translations of Ptolemy's Geography, "Petilia" was translated as "Petilia, now Altamura", despite the coordinates given by Ptolemy unequivocally pointed toward today's Calabria. The hypothesis that Altamura was the ancient city of Petilia probably originated with Raffaello Maffei, as he was the first known author that suggested it. Leandro Alberti, instead, was the first scholar who dismissed that Altamura was Petilia in his work Descrittione [sic] di tutta Italia (1550). According to modern scholars, Petilia probably refers to the archeological remains found on Monte Stella.
A couple of centuries[vague] after Altamura was reportedly looted by the Saracens[when?], it started to be inhabited again as emperor Frederick II refounded the city (1232) and ordered the construction of the large Altamura Cathedral, which became one of the most venerated sanctuaries in Apulia. In 1248, under pressure from Frederick, Pope Innocent IV declared Altamura exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishop of Bari, making it a "palatine church", that is the equivalent of a palace chapel.
Altamura was ruled by various feudal families, including the Orsini del Balzo and the Farnese (1538–1734), the latter responsible of the construction of numerous palaces and churches. In the past, Altamura also had a large castle, whose construction dated back to the 11th-13th century, which has been completely demolished and is not visible anymore. In 1748 Charles VII of Naples had a university built in the city.
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Altamura
Altamura (/ˌæltəˈmʊərə/; Italian: [ˌaltaˈmuːra]; Barese: Jaltamure) is a town and comune of Apulia, in southern Italy. It is located on one of the hills of the Murge plateau in the Metropolitan City of Bari, 45 kilometres (28 miles) southwest of Bari, close to the border with Basilicata. As of 2017[update], its population amounts to 70,595 inhabitants.
The city is known for its particular quality of bread called Pane di Altamura, which is sold in numerous other Italian cities. The 130,000-year-old calcified Altamura Man was discovered in 1993 in the nearby limestone cave called grotta di Lamalunga.
The area of modern Altamura was densely inhabited in the Bronze Age (La Croce settlement and necropolis). The region contains some fifty tumuli. Between the 6th and the 3rd century BC a massive line of megalithic walls were erected, traces of which are still visible in some areas of the city.
The city was inhabited until around the tenth century AD. Then it was reportedly looted by Saracens. There are no reliable sources confirming what the original name of Altamura was. Inside the Tabula Peutingeriana, only Sublupatia occurs, which may refer either to Santeramo in Colle, Altamura or to a small region nearby named Jesce. Sublupatia implies that a city whose name was Lupatia was also present, even though there is no mention of Lupatia either in Tabula Peutingeriana or the Antonine Itinerary. Nevertheless Lupatia occurs in Ravenna Cosmography (Byzantine period) and in Guido of Pisa's work Geographica (Middle Ages).
According to an ancient legend, appearing for the first time in the 13th century AD, Altamura's former name was Altilia, from Alter Ilium, the "other Troy". According to a legend, it was founded by a friend of Aeneas, Antellus, also a fugitive from the Asian city destroyed by the Greeks. Another legend attributes the foundation to Althea, queen of the Myrmidons. Ottavio Serena, as early as in 1880, rejected the above legends as well as the belief that the ancient name of Altamura was Altilia, as it lacked reliable sources. Serena suggested that this name may have originated with an unknown High Middle Ages scholar who tried to provide an explanation of the ruins found in that place.
During the 15th and 16th centuries AD, Altamura was also mistaken for the ancient city of Petilia. The belief that Petilia was the ancient name of Altamura at that time was so strong that on some Italian translations of Ptolemy's Geography, "Petilia" was translated as "Petilia, now Altamura", despite the coordinates given by Ptolemy unequivocally pointed toward today's Calabria. The hypothesis that Altamura was the ancient city of Petilia probably originated with Raffaello Maffei, as he was the first known author that suggested it. Leandro Alberti, instead, was the first scholar who dismissed that Altamura was Petilia in his work Descrittione [sic] di tutta Italia (1550). According to modern scholars, Petilia probably refers to the archeological remains found on Monte Stella.
A couple of centuries[vague] after Altamura was reportedly looted by the Saracens[when?], it started to be inhabited again as emperor Frederick II refounded the city (1232) and ordered the construction of the large Altamura Cathedral, which became one of the most venerated sanctuaries in Apulia. In 1248, under pressure from Frederick, Pope Innocent IV declared Altamura exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishop of Bari, making it a "palatine church", that is the equivalent of a palace chapel.
Altamura was ruled by various feudal families, including the Orsini del Balzo and the Farnese (1538–1734), the latter responsible of the construction of numerous palaces and churches. In the past, Altamura also had a large castle, whose construction dated back to the 11th-13th century, which has been completely demolished and is not visible anymore. In 1748 Charles VII of Naples had a university built in the city.