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 ...
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 ...
, about from
Taranto
Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label=Tarantino dialect, Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an ...
. Located in a territory spanning from the Murgia to the
Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including ...
, characterized by numerous ''gravina'' (
ravine
A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.Murgia Mountain Community).
History
Human settlements were present in the area since the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
(3rd–2nd millennium BC), and it was later probably settled by
Sicels
The Sicels (; la, Siculi; grc, Σικελοί ''Sikeloi'') were an Italic tribe who inhabited eastern Sicily during the Iron Age. Their neighbours to the west were the Sicani. The Sicels gave Sicily the name it has held since antiquity, b ...
, Messapii and Iapyges.
According to a theory, a fortified city (Castania in Latin) was founded in 550 and grew in size when the population of neighbouring cities fled there from
Saracen
upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia P ...
attacks. Other historians maintain instead that it was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
colony which existed until the 8th century. When the Saracens destroyed it, the inhabitants joined in a ''Castellum Unitum'' (United Castle) on the hills, whence the current name.
Whatever its origin, Castellaneta was conquered by 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. T ...
in 1064, taken by Duke Robert of Taranto, who expelled its Byzantine inhabitants. At that time, probably, the episcopal see was created. In the 13th century
Charles of Anjou
Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) ...
turned it first into a fief, and later into a King's city.
In 1503, during the
Italian Wars
The Italian Wars, also known as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts covering the period 1494 to 1559, fought mostly in the Italian peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and the Mediterranean Sea. The pr ...
, the citizens pushed back a French occupation force under the
Duke of Nemours Duke of Nemours was a title in the Peerage of France. The name refers to Nemours in the Île-de-France region of north-central France.
History
In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Lordship of Nemours, in the Gatinais, France, was a possession of t ...
, in the so-called "Sack of Castellaneta". In 1519 the Spaniards sold it to Flemish feudatories, and thenceforth the city started to decline as secondary centre.
In 1944 Castellaneta was bombed by the withdrawing
, killing 27 people. The city received a bronze medal for civic valour.
Main sights
* The Castellaneta Cathedral (''Chiesa di San Nicola'') was built in 1220 but was totally remade in the 18th century, along Baroque lines. Noteworthy are the façade and three canvasses by Carlo Porta. Annexed is the ''Palazzo Vescovile'' (Bishops' Palace), housing other works of art. The cathedral is named after
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day De ...
, whose relics are held in the nearest big city, Bari.
* ''San Domenico'', with a façade in both
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...
and Baroque styles.
*''San Francesco d'Assisi'' (1471), with canvasses from the 17th century.
* ''Santa Maria della Luce'' (13th century), is one of the few example of Angevine-
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. I ...
in the area, along with the Cathedral's bell tower. Built on uneven terrain, it is in the shape of a ship's deck, and has interesting frescoes in the interior.
* The ''Gravina of Castelleneta'' and numerous carved caves, once inhabited by local population, some of them used as churches.
* The
Rudolph Valentino
Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred ...
Museum with exhibits on the life of the movie actor including movie posters, the bed he slept in as a child in Castellaneta and a reconstruction of a set from the movie '' The Son of the Sheik'' with the tent used in the film.
*Rudolph Valentino memorial, designed by architect Nicola Cantore with a blue
ceramic
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelai ...
statue of the actor by Luigi Gheno, dedicated in 1961 the ceremony for its unveiling is seen in the documentary Mondo Cane.
People
Actor
Rudolph Valentino
Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred ...
was born in Castellaneta in 1895. The ancestors of
Dan Castellaneta
Daniel Louis Castellaneta (; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Abraham "Grampa" ...
, an actor/voice actor best known for his work on ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...