Aragonese castle and swing bridge

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Taranto

The once-mighty Greek-Spartan colony of Taras is, today, a city of two distinct parts – a mildewed centro storico on a small artificial island protecting a lagoon (the Mar Piccolo), and a swankier new city replete with wide avenues laid out in a formal grid. The contrast between the two is sudden and sharp: the diminutive old town with its muscular Aragonese castle harbours a downtrodden, almost derelict air, while the larger new city is busier, plusher and bustling with commerce.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Museo Nazionale Archeologico di Taranto

    Museo Nazionale Archeologico di Taranto

    Taranto

    Sitting unassumingly in a side street in Taranto's new town is one of Italy's most important archaeological museums, chiefly dedicated to the archaeology…

  • Castello Aragonese

    Castello Aragonese

    Taranto

    Guarding the swing bridge that joins the old and new parts of town, this impressive 15th-century structure, built on Norman and Byzantine predecessors,…

  • Cathedral

    Cathedral

    Taranto

    The 11th-century cathedral is one of Puglia's oldest Romanesque buildings and an extravagant treat. It's dedicated to San Cataldo, an Irish monk who lived…

  • Temple of Poseidon

    Temple of Poseidon

    Taranto

    This 6th-century BC Doric temple is one of the few visible remains of the once-great Greek colony of Taras. The last two surviving columns and the…

  • Palazzo del Governo

    Palazzo del Governo

    Taranto

    The gigantic rust-red 1930s Palazzo del Governo, inaugurated by Mussolini, is a forbidding and masculine structure, expressive of the fascist ideas of…

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