Manfredonia

Manfredonia [maɱfreˈdɔːnja] 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 its population was 56,932.[3]

Manfredonia
Comune di Manfredonia
Basilica of Siponto
Basilica of Siponto
Manfredonia within the Province of Foggia
Manfredonia within the Province of Foggia
Location of Manfredonia
Manfredonia is located in Italy
Manfredonia
Manfredonia
Location of Manfredonia in Italy
Manfredonia is located in Apulia
Manfredonia
Manfredonia
Manfredonia (Apulia)
Coordinates: 41°38′N 15°55′E
CountryItaly
RegionApulia
ProvinceFoggia (FG)
FrazioniBorgo Mezzanone, Riviera Sud (Sciali and Ippocampo), Pastini, Ruggiano, San Salvatore, Siponto, Tomaiuolo
Government
  MayorGiovanni Rotice
Area
  Total354.54 km2 (136.89 sq mi)
Elevation
5 m (16 ft)
Population
 (30 November 2017)[2]
  Total56,932
  Density160/km2 (420/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Manfredoniani, Sipontini
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
71043
Dialing code0884
Patron saintSaint Laurence of Siponto (San Lorenzo Maiorano)
Saint day7 February
WebsiteOfficial website

History

Historic centre of Manfredonia in the early 20th century

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 12561263, 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

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

Castle of Manfredonia

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.

Detail of decorations in the Abbey of San Leonardo in Lama Volara

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

People

See also

References

  1. "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  2. All demographics and other statistics from the Italian statistical institute (Istat)
  3. (in Italian) Source: Archived 2012-02-25 at the Wayback Machine Istat 2011

Sources

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