Trani

Trani's cathedral was begun in 1099 and stands on an open apron of paving directly beside the water, with no square or buildings behind it, so it is seen against the sea from almost every angle; it is built of a local limestone that weathers very pale, sometimes described as pink-white. Three churches are stacked in it: the upper church, a lower church, and beneath that the hypogeum of San Leucio, an earlier structure. Bronze doors of 1175 by Barisano da Trani survive. The Swabian castle of Frederick II stands nearby on the shore, and a fishing harbour curves in front of the old town.

History

The town first appears as Turenum in the Tabula Peutingeriana, a 13th-century copy of a Roman road map, though certain records of a town here go back only to the 9th century. Its finest age was the 11th century, when it became a bishop's see and its port, well placed for the Crusades, grew into the most important on the Adriatic; in 1063 it issued the Ordinamenta et consuetudo maris, the oldest surviving maritime law code of the Latin West (Wikipedia, Trani).

The main sights

• The seaside cathedral - a pale Romanesque church on the water's edge.
• The three levels - upper church, lower church and earlier hypogeum.
• The bronze doors - twelfth-century work by Barisano da Trani.
• The Swabian castle - Frederick II's fortress on the same shore.

When to go

April to October; the cathedral closes for a midday break. Light on the stone is best in late afternoon. Summer weekends fill the harbour restaurants.

Before you go

The cathedral shuts at midday for several hours. The lower levels have separate access hours. Harbour restaurants are geared to visitors with prices to match.

Nearby

Castel del Monte lies inland; Bari is southeast.

Key facts