Manfredonia () is a town and commune of

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

, Italy, in the

province of Foggia The province of Foggia (, ; Neapolitan language, Foggiano: ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Regions of Italy, Italian region Apulia. This province is also known as Daunia, after the Daunians, an Iapygians, Iapygian pre-Roman tribe livi ...

, from which it is northeast by rail. Manfredonia is situated on the coast, facing east, to the south of Monte Gargano, and gives its name to the

gulf A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay (geography), bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of s ...

to the east of it. its population was 56,932.Source:
Istat 2011

History

The area of current Manfredonia was settled in ancient times by the

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

, founded by

Diomedes Diomedes (Jones, Daniel; Roach, Peter, James Hartman and Jane Setter, eds. ''Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary''. 17th edition. Cambridge UP, 2006.) or Diomede (; ) is a hero in Greek mythology, known for his participation in the Trojan ...

. The flourishing Greek colony, having fallen into the hands of the

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic peoples, Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan language, Oscan-speaking Osci, people, who originated as an offsh ...

, was retaken about 335 BC by King Alexander of Epirus, uncle of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

. In 189 BC Sipontum was conquered by the Romans and became a colony of citizens. It was a port at the junction of the road which basically followed the Adriatic coast (but giving the Garganus mountain's peninsula just north a miss) and a road through Arpi, Luceria, Aecae and Aequum Tuticum connecting at Beneventum to the

Via Appia 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, recor ...

. In AD 663 it was taken and destroyed by the

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

( Narentines). In the 9th century, Sipontum was for a time in the power of the

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

. In 1042 the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

made it the seat of one of their twelve counties, while the Monte Gargano remained Byzantine. The Normans won a decisive victory there over the Byzantine general Argyrus in 1052. Siponto was an archbishopric in the Norman countship of Apulia. Having become unhealthy owing to the stagnation of the water in the lagoons after the 1223 earthquake, Siponto was abandoned. The modern city of Manfredonia was built by King Manfred between 1256–1263, several kilometers north of the ruins of the ancient Sipontum. The Angevins, who had defeated Manfred and stripped him of the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily (; ; ) was a state that existed in Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula, Italian Peninsula as well as, for a time, in Kingdom of Africa, Northern Africa, from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was ...

, renamed it ''Sypontum Novellum'' ("New Sypontum"), but that name never stuck. In 1528 Manfredonia resisted a French attack led by the Viscount of Lautrec. In 1620 it was destroyed by the Turks, who left only the castle and part of the walls.

Geography

Manfredonia is located in south of Gargano. It borders with the municipalities of

Carapelle Carapelle ( Foggiano: ) is a town and ''comune'' belonging to the Province of Foggia and situated in the Apulia region of southern Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, ...

, Cerignola,

Foggia Foggia (, ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere delle Puglie, Tavoliere, also know ...

Monte Sant'Angelo Monte Sant'Angelo (Neapolitan language, Foggiano: ) is a town and ''comune'' of Apulia, southern Italy, in the province of Foggia, on the southern slopes of Monte Gargano. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of ...

, San Giovanni Rotondo, San Marco in Lamis and Zapponeta. It counts 7 civil parishes (''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

''): Borgo Mezzanone, Riviera Sud (Sciali and Ippocampo), Pastini, Ruggiano, San Salvatore,

Siponto Siponto (, ) was an ancient port town and bishopric of Magna Graecia in Apulia, southern Italy. The town was abandoned after earthquakes in the 13th century; today the area is administered as a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Manfredonia, in t ...

and Tomaiuolo.

Main sights

Manfredonia e il suo castello Svevo Angioino

The medieval castle, begun by the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

and completed by the Angevins, and parts of the town walls are well preserved. The castle received a new line of walls in the 15th century In the church of San Domenico, the Chapel of the Maddalena contains old paintings of the 14th century. Three kilometers () to the southwest is the former Siponto Cathedral, now the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore di Siponto, built in 1117 in the Romanesque style, with a dome and crypt. The Abbey of San Leonardo in Lama Volara, nearer to

, belonging to the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

, is of the same date. Abbazia di San Leonardo in Lama Volara - particolare 03

Manfredonia is also the location of the seat of the Archbishopric of Manfredonia-Vieste-S. Giovanni Rotondo in Manfredonia Cathedral, rebuilt in about 1600 after the destruction by the Turks of its 13th-century predecessor.

Transport

A dual carriageway links Manfredonia to

, a distance of and to A14 motorway. Manfredonia railway station is the terminal of the Foggia-Manfredonia line. Other stations serving the municipal territory are Manfredonia Città (closed),

(in the homonymous village), Frattarolo, Candelaro and Amendola.

People

* Laurence of Siponto (died 545), bishop, saint, patron of Manfredonia * Vettor Pisani (1324–1380), Venetian admiral * Pino Rucher (1924–1996), guitarist and arranger

References

Sources

*A. Beltramelli, ''Il Gargano'' (Bergamo, 1907) *Westermann, ''Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte''

External links

Manfredonia official websiteManfredonia NewsManfredonia News "Stato Quotidiano"
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Apulia Castles in Italy 1256 establishments in Europe 13th-century establishments in Italy Coastal towns in Apulia