Troia (also formerly Troja; nap, label= Foggiano, Troië; grc, Αῖκαι, Aîkai; la, Aecae) is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Foggia The Province of Foggia ( it, Provincia di Foggia ; Foggiano: ) is a province in the Apulia (Puglia) region of southern Italy. This province is also known as Daunia, after the Daunians, an Iapygian pre-Roman tribe living in Tavoliere plain, an ...

and region of Apulia in southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

History

According to the legend, Troia (Aecae) was founded by the Greek hero Diomedes, who had destroyed the ancient

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

. Aecae was mentioned both by Polybius and

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

, during the military operations of Hannibal and

Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, surnamed Cunctator ( 280 – 203 BC), was a Roman statesman and general of the third century BC. He was consul five times (233, 228, 215, 214, and 209 BC) and was appointed dictator in 221 and 217 BC. He was ...

in Apulia. In common with many other Apulian cities it had joined the

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

after the battle of Cannae, but was recovered by Fabius Maximus in 214 BC, though not without a regular siege.

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

also enumerates the Aecani among the inland towns of Apulia (iii. 11); but its position is more clearly determined by the Itineraries, which place it on the

Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is indicated by its common name, ...

between

Aequum Tuticum Aequum Tuticum was a Roman vicus in southern Italy, about 35 km east-northeast of Beneventum. The site lies beside Saint Eleuterio hamlet, overlooking at an elevation of 575 m, about 15 km north of the modern Ariano Irpino, within Irp ...

and Herdonia, at a distance of from the latter city. This interval exactly accords with the position of the modern city of Troia, and confirms the statements of several chroniclers of the Middle Ages, that the latter was founded about the beginning of the 11th century, on the ruins of the ancient Aecae. Cluverius erroneously identified Aecae with

Accadia Accadia (Irpino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. Until the mid-20th century it was just within the eastern frontier of the region of Campania in the province of Avellino. The town oc ...

, a village in the

Daunian Mountains Daunian Mountains (in Italian Monti della Daunia or Monti Dauni, or also improperly Subappennino Dauno) are a mountain range in southern Italy, constituting the eastern appendix of the Campanian Apennines. They occupy the western fringe of Capit ...

south of

Bovino Bovino is a '' comune'' and hill town at the eastern side of the Apennines in the province of Foggia, Apulia, southern Italy. Located within the woody Daunian Mountains as a terrace over the Tavoliere plains, Bovino is currently a member of the ...

; but his error was rectified by

Holstenius Lucas Holstenius, born Lukas Holste, sometimes called Holstein (1596 – 2 February 1661), was a German Catholic humanist, geographer, historian, and librarian. Life Born at Hamburg in 1596, he studied at the gymnasium of Hamburg, and late ...

. Troia is an episcopal see, and a place of some consideration; it stands on a hill of moderate elevation, rising above the fertile plain of Apulia, and is south of Lucera, and southwest of Foggia. The current Troia was founded as a fortified town in Apulia in 1018 by

Basil Boioannes Basil Boioannes ( grc-gre, Βασίλειος Βοϊωάννης, Basíleios Boïōánnēs, ; la, Basilius Bugianus, ), in Italian called it, Bugiano, label=none, i=no (), was the Byzantine catapan of Italy (1017 – 1027 Chalandon, Ferdinand. '' ...

. It defended the entrance into the Apulian plain from the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

. Until overshadowed by Foggia, it was an important strategic town in southern Italy, and was several times besieged, notably, by the emperors Henry II and Frederick II. After the latter's fall, it sided for the Angevines, and later, against the former, for the Aragonese. After the unification of Southern Italy (1861), Troia rebelled and the Savoy troops intervened with the use of cannons.

Main sights

Troia Cathedral Troia Cathedral ( it, Concattedrale di Troia; ''Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta'') is the cathedral of Troia in Apulia, Italy, dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Built in the first quarter of the 12th century, it is reckone ...

, an example of Apulian

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

*Basilica of St. Basil (11th century) *Baroque church of St. Francis *Church of ''San Vincenzo'' (10th century) *Palazzo Principi d'Avalos *Jesuits' Palace (16th century) *Municipal Museum, with archaeological findings from the area and an art gallery *Diocesan Museum, housed in the 18th century Benedictine Nunnery, and the New Museum of the Cathedral's Treasure. The latter is home to medieval rolls of the ''Exultet''.

Transportation

It is the only municipality in Italy to provide

free public transport Free public transport, often called fare-free public transit or zero-fare public transport, refers to public transport funded in full by means other than by collecting fares from passengers. It may be funded by national, regional or local gover ...

Sources and references

References

External links