Comune in Apulia, Italy
Manfredonia
[ma?fre?d?ːnja]
is a town and
commune
of
Apulia
, Italy, in the
province of Foggia
, from which it is 35 kilometres (22 miles) northeast by rail. Manfredonia is situated on the coast, facing east, to the south of
Monte Gargano
, and gives its name to the
gulf
to the east of it. As of 2017
[update]
its population was 56,932.
[3]
History
[
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]
The area of current Manfredonia was settled in ancient times by the
Greeks
, founded by
Diomedes
. The flourishing Greek colony, having fallen into the hands of the
Samnites
, was retaken about 335 BC by King
Alexander of Epirus
, uncle of
Alexander the Great
.
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
.
In AD 663 it was taken and destroyed by the
Slavs
(
Narentines
). In the 9th century, Sipontum was for a time in the power of the
Saracens
.
In 1042 the
Normans
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
, 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
[
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]
Manfredonia is located in south of
Gargano
. It borders with the municipalities of
Carapelle
,
Cerignola
,
Foggia
,
Monte Sant'Angelo
,
San Giovanni Rotondo
,
San Marco in Lamis
and
Zapponeta
.
It counts 7 civil parishes (
frazioni
): Borgo Mezzanone, Riviera Sud (Sciali and Ippocampo), Pastini, Ruggiano, San Salvatore,
Siponto
and Tomaiuolo.
Main sights
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The medieval castle, begun by the
Hohenstaufen
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 (1.9 miles) 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
Foggia
, belonging to the
Teutonic Order
, is of the same date.
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
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]
A
dual carriageway
links Manfredonia to
Foggia
, a distance of 40 km (25 mi) and to
A14 motorway
.
Manfredonia railway station
is the terminal of the
Foggia-Manfredonia line
. Other stations serving the municipal territory are Manfredonia Citta (closed),
Siponto
(in the
homonymous village
), Frattarolo, Candelaro and Amendola.
People
[
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]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
Sources
[
edit
]
- A. Beltramelli,
Il Gargano
(Bergamo, 1907)
- Westermann,
Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte
External links
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