Nine hundred years ago, 62 sailors landed in Bari bearing the relics of their patron saint, in a bid to revive the city’s fortunes. But it was fishing, an aqueduct and a bustling cultural scene that made Bari the thriving Italian port it is today

In five words

White stone on the Adriatic.

The sound of the city

This is the sound of a sailor bashing an octopus, in preparation to be eaten raw. Early in the morning, sailors prepare the fish for markets that have sprung up along the docks. As well as octopus, they sell sea urchins, mussels, cuttlefish, oysters, shrimp and the other seafood fished that day – most of which will be eaten raw, and without any sushi-like intermediaries. Reggae welcomes those who want to enjoy the scene.



Best building

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Palazzo dell’acquedotto - The Palace of the Apulian Aqueduct. Photograph: Marta Vigneri

In 1932, when the Palace of the Apulian Aqueduct was completed, Bari’s cultural and social life was flourishing: the city’s university had recently been established, its largest theatre inaugurated in 1903 and its publishing house founded in 1901. But the construction of the aqueduct, which brought an autonomous source of water into a very dry region, made Bari a modern economic centre for the south of Italy.

The fascist monumental style expresses this sense of progress, but the palace also features the typical Romanesque style of Puglia. The interiors are decorated by the Roman artist Duilio Cambellotti and their recurrent theme is water, the new free-flowing availability of which was celebrated by households and farmers alike.

Worst building

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bari’s worst building. Photograph: Marta Vigneri

Welcoming visitors to the Square of the Central Station, one of the key entrance points of the city, is this glass building. It is hated by locals for having replaced one of the city’s best buildings, the former headquarters of the south Italy newspaper La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno. The former palace was destroyed at night in 1983, and some of its old statues are saved in the City Hall. The new building represents the country’s years of property speculation.

Homegrown talent

Born in Bari in 1989, Gio Sada is Bari’s songwriter of the moment and local hero. He has toured across Europe with different bands singing punk, rock and hardcore, and won X-Factor Italia in December 2015 with a song dedicated to Bari, the debut single Il Rimpianto di Te. He is now popular nationwide and is touring the country with his most recent band, the soft rock outfit Barismoothsquad.

Most under-rated location



On the southern coast of Bari is the Impact Beach Torre Quetta, which offers windsurf and kitesurf courses, a cafeteria, music, some nightly events and atmosphere. It remains relatively unpopular: the surf school is often closed, and citizens tend to stay on the central part of the urban coastline. Moreover, despite the wind to which the coast is exposed – in particular the Levant and the mistral – sailing sports are not very popular with locals. They overlook it to their loss.



Best cultural Instagram

Biggest controversy

On 17 April, Italy voted in a referendum on oil and gas drilling concessions. The “yes” vote argued that companies holding permits to prospect or drill near the coast would have to cease activities when their authorisations expired – rather than keep extracting until the oilfield in question was completely depleted, as the current law states.

Bari’s population was actively involved in the debate: its region, Puglia, was one of the nine that proposed the referendum, and home to three of the 21 sites affected. The “yes” campaigners were concerned about the impact of further drilling on the marine ecosystem and on the region’s seismic stability. The “no” side argued that drilling activities (mainly managed by the Italian firm Eni and the French firm Edison) stimulated a stagnating economy and created thousands of jobs.

Although 86% voted “yes”, turnout was just 31% – below the majority required to validate the referendum result. The law will stay the same.

Moment in history

On 9 May 1087, 62 sailors landed on the coast of Bari bearing the relics of Saint Nicola, the patron saint of seafarers. The crew of the three vessels had decided to take his bones from Mira, Turkey, where they had been kept since his death in AD 337, in order to give new prestige to the medieval city of Bari, which was suffering a period of commercial decline. The event signalled a victory over another important mercantile city, Venice – which was also trying to get the relics – and made Bari a destination of religious pilgrimage for Catholics and Orthodox Christians alike. The mass is now celebrated in both liturgies in the crypt of the Basilica di San Nicola, and the saint is commemorated every year on 9 May, in the city’s most important event.



Best local artist

Checco Zalone (the nom de plume of Luca Medici) is an actor and a comedian. He first found success for a song celebrating the victory of the Italian football team at the 2006 World Cup, then started acting for the big screen. In his movies he makes fun of himself, a stereotypical middleman who is accepted wherever he goes despite his grotesque personality. The formula has been a hit: his third movie, Quo Vado, grossed more than €22m (£16.5m) over a three-day holiday weekend this year, nearly equalling the total brought in by Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Italy over three entire weeks, and surpassing the previous record, set by the award-winning film La Vita è Bella.



Top insider’s tip

Facebook Twitter Pinterest An experience from sunrise to sunset ... El Chiringuito bar. Photograph: Marta Vigneri

El Chiringuito is a bar by the fish market. Going there is an experience, from sunrise to sunset and beyond. It offers a view of the city floating on the water, the fishermen selling their wares, their diving suits drying on the market’s wooden cover. The bar sells the typical beer of the city, Peroni, as well as panzerotti, Bari’s bakery specialty, made of fried dough filled with tomato and mozzarella. People eat it on the dock or on boats anchored in the marina. In summer this is the best place to meet people and hang out at night to the sound of bongo drums and reggae.



What does your city do better than anywhere else?

Bari’s gastronomy is a unique mixture of seafood, fish and agricultural products. An example of this is riso patate e cozze (rice, potatoes and mussels), a dish of baked rice with potatoes, a few tomatoes and mussels in their shells. Eating it is to taste the flavour of the earth and the sea together.

How green is your city?

According to Istat, the Italian National Institute of Statistics, Bari has less public green space than most other Italian cities (4.9 m2/inhabitant). The automobile remains the principal means of transport: there are 534 cars for every 1,000 people, and the bike lanes are not very bike-friendly, though public and private associations are trying to improve bike-sharing initiatives. The municipality has also recently launched a plan to improve civic behaviour by, for example, fining people for littering cigarette butts and businesses for not having ashtrays outside.

Five to follow

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Pinuccio

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Pigment Workroom

Alessandro Piva

From me

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Marta Vigneri. Photograph: Leo Novel

Marta Vigneri is a freelance journalist who contributes to an Italian online newspaper of international affairs. She is also a freelance consultant for Europe-Aid, and has produced a documentary on mobile farming in Kenya. Follow her on Twitter here.