History and Sights of Monopoli

is a busy commercial centre, and has been an important port from the time of the Byzantines and the Normans.

It was a thriving sea port, but, because of its strategic position, it was frequently invaded and attacked by pirates. In the middle ages it was occupied by the Venetians, then fell into the hands of the Spaniards, who fortified the castle. The historical centre of the town is still enclosed today by Aragonese fortifications, which protected it from enemy sea-raids. The harbour, overlooked by the castle, is still in use.

Monopoli has a fine cathedral, which was founded in 1107 in the golden age of the Apulian-Romanesque churches, but it was rebuilt between 1742 and 1750. The Byzantine portrait of the Madonna della Media, which, according to a legend, arrived in Monopoli on a raft from the east, is kept there. With a better known provenance are many other paintings by prominent artists, and there is an exhibition of architectural fragments from the earliest cathedral church, and reliquaries and precious objects.

Its paintings, too, are an important feature of the church of San Domenico, which also has an elegant Renaissance facade. The twelfth century chapel of Santa Maria Amalfitana is particularly interesting, and stands over an earlier cave church crypt.