What to See in Bari, from the Alleys of the Old Town to Cultural Spots

Bari, the capital of Apulia and a lively Mediterranean port, always deserves a visit, a stroll among the elegant shops of via Sparano, a stop in the typical bars and restaurants, many nestled in the characteristic medieval old town, renovated and successfully revitalized for several years now. Baresi can make use of the Bari Palese Airport, located nearby. Around it, there is a low-cost parking at Bari Airport for departures but also for those who want to leave the car and explore on foot.

1 Old Bari

Around Old Bari lie the most significant monuments, pride and glory of the entire city: the imposing Norman-Swabian-Aragonese castle and the Cathedral of San Sabino, located right at the gates of the old town, which presents itself as a picturesque tangle of alleys, small squares, courtyards, votive shrines, and symbols against the evil eye and slander. Sounds and voices of the local dialect echo through the alleys, merging completely with the surrounding environment. Here stands the Basilica of San Nicola, patron saint of the Baresi. It was here that, from the East, the saint’s relics arrived in 1807 and have been kept since, although the cathedral was only consecrated in 1197. The interior and exterior of the Basilica are products of finely crafted Apulian Romanesque style.

2 Norman Castle of Bari

The Bari Castle, historically attributed to Roger the Norman, was built in 1131; it stands on pre-existing Byzantine residential structures. The restoration of the castle damaged by William the Bad (1156) is credited to Frederick II of Swabia between 1233 and 1240, who reused the previous layout and the surviving structure of the outer wall and towers. During the Angevin period, under Charles I, important restoration works were carried out by the protomagistri Pietro d’Angincourt and Giovanni di Toul. In the 1500s, under Isabella of Aragon and her daughter Bona Sforza, the bastioned wall was built, and the central courtyard was arranged with the double-ramp staircase. In the nineteenth century, the castle was used as a prison and later as a barracks.

3 San Nicola Pier

A few steps away, behind the ruins of the Margherita Theater, lies the small harbor, a meeting place for old and new sea wolves, with the San Nicola Pier and the famous “nderr alle lanze“, the spot where fishing boats dock with their catch of seafood, which also supplies the restaurants and stalls of the nearby market. One could spend hours watching fishermen “arricciano” octopuses, beating them vigorously on the ground or with a sturdy wooden paddle to tenderize the meat before cooking.

4 Via Sparano

A few steps through the right-angled streets of the Murattian district lead to the heart of the commercial city: via Sparano, Bari’s most elegant street, with sparkling shop windows full of refined goods, but also places rich in history and culture, like the Laterza Bookstore, housed in the former premises of the renowned publishing house that also collaborated with Benedetto Croce, as commemorated by a plaque on the building.

5 Crollalanza Seafront and Petruzzelli Theater

The Adriatic is always close by, just a few steps away, witness to the daily stroll on the Crollalanza Seafront, an architectural expression of the Fascist era. It is the meeting point for chats before and after dinner; for swimming and sunbathing, people rely on the golden and welcoming beaches of Giovinazzo, Polignano a Mare, and Monopoli. Nearby is the Petruzzelli Theater, one of Italy’s largest theaters, inaugurated in 1903. It was destroyed by fire in 1991 and returned to the city in 2009, fully rebuilt exactly as it was.

6 Nicolaian Museum

The Nicolaian Museum of Bari, inaugurated on February 6, 2010, collects important objects linked to the Basilica of San Nicola. Paintings and sacred vestments, inscriptions, parchments, and illuminated manuscripts from the Basilica Archive as well as precious objects offered by popes, pilgrims, and bishops such as enamels, coats of arms, reliquaries, chalices, and silverware from the Treasury. Particularly interesting is the exhibit of two significant finds uncovered during excavations in the last decade at the Nicolaian Citadel under the scientific supervision of the Apulian Archaeological Heritage Authority. These are a Roman-era architrave block and a medieval pilgrimage badge (13th-14th century) depicting San Nicola, recovered respectively beneath the Nicolaian Museum and the Nicolaian Studies Center Library. The Nicolaian Museum, which houses the most valuable pieces connected to the centuries-long history of the Basilica of San Nicola, is a great attraction for anyone interested in the Saint as well as the civil, artistic, and religious history of Bari. Starting from antiquity, it spans Byzantine (876-1071), Norman (1071-1194), Swabian (1194-1266), Angevin (1266-1442), Aragonese (1442-1501), Viceroyalty (1551-1734), Bourbon (1734-1861) and post-unification periods. Inscriptions, parchments, illuminated manuscripts (from the valuable Basilica Archive), enamels, coats of arms, reliquaries, chalices and silverware (from the Treasury), paintings, and sacred vestments allow visitors direct contact with masterpieces and documents that shaped the history of the Saint, the Basilica, and the City.

7 Medieval and Modern Art Museum and Picture Gallery

The Medieval and Modern Art Picture Gallery of Bari was established on July 12, 1928. The collection was formed by merging a core of paintings already housed in the Picture Gallery annexed to the Provincial Archaeological Museum founded in 1875, other paintings deposited from Apulian churches and convents (especially important is the deposit from the Archdiocese Curia of Bari), works on loan from the National Galleries of Naples and Rome, and others acquired by the Province of Bari. From its foundation until 1936, the Gallery was housed in the Government Palace. From 1936, it was transferred to the Palace of the Province, designed by engineer Luigi Baffa, where it remains today. Since 2002, it has been named after the Apulian painter Corrado Giaquinto, born in Molfetta in 1703 and died in Naples in 1766, whose seven works are on display in the museum.

8 Cathedral Museum (Diocesan)

On June 7, 1981, the Archbishop of Bari Mons. Mariano Magrassi established the Diocesan Museum of Bari. The aim was inspired by the dictates of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, to prevent “sacred vessels and precious works that adorn the house of God from being alienated or dispersed.” Initially, it functioned as a storage for artworks and sacred furnishings from abandoned churches in the old city of Bari and the entire diocese. The Museum was officially inaugurated on June 16, 1983. On September 12, 1996, the first layout of the Treasure Room, the Exultet Room I, and the picture gallery was completed. On September 11, 1998, the second phase was inaugurated, including the creation of the lapidary room, the Benedizionale and Exultet Rooms II and III, and the room of sacred vestments. With the relocation of the Curia offices by Archbishop Francesco Cacucci, the remaining first-floor area was also dedicated to the museum.

9 Civic Museum of Bari

In 1913, to celebrate the centenary of the founding of the Murattian quarter, the Civic Administration organized and set up a “19th-century Historical Exhibition.” Following the great success of this initiative, the Municipality decided to create a “Historical Museum,” inaugurated on January 26, 1919 in some rooms annexed to the Margherita Theater. A “War Exhibition” was also organized, including the library of the De Gemmis brothers and important collections of documents and weapons (including those of generals Bonomo and De Bernardis).

The Museum, declared a Moral Entity by Royal Decree on March 4, 1926, grew richer with interesting material, such as the archive and paintings of the Tanzi family. In the 1940s, the premises were requisitioned by Anglo-American troops for use as a recreational club for soldiers, and much of the material was lost. Only after several years could the Museum reopen to visitors in new premises provided by the Municipality. Since 1977, it has been housed in Strada Sagges, in an ancient palace, whose structure is typical of medieval palatial houses.

10 De Romita Museum

Bari native and trained at the Royal Academy of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of Naples, de Romita was a professor of natural sciences at the Royal Technical and Nautical Institute of Bari. The museum reflects the idea of requalifying and restoring a naturalistic collection of historical-cultural and scientific relevance kept for over a century at the IISS Pitagora di Bari, where the curator himself, the eminent naturalist Professor Vincenzo de Romita, created it at the end of the 1800s, earning the title of father of ornithology and environmentalism in Apulia. It hosts various animal series, including different bird species uncommon in southern Italy, reptiles such as the Coluber leopardinus variety, fishes including a two-headed shark fetus, and among insects, the Cicindela dilacerata, first appearing in the fauna of the Neapolitan provinces.

11 Botanical Garden of Bari

The current Botanical Garden Institute of Bari was established in 1955, when the Faculty of Sciences was gifted a villa on the city outskirts with 5,000 sqm of agricultural land. The first attempt to establish a Botanical Garden in Bari dates back to August 1813; a decree by Joachim Murat mandated every provincial capital to have an Agriculture Society (later called Economic Society) with an annexed Garden for testing and producing agrarian and ornamental plants. This garden was short-lived as the return of the Bourbons to the throne of Naples forced the fledgling Society to abandon the newly prepared site and relocate to provisional premises. In 1858, after long disputes, the Municipality of Bari granted a plot of 52 moggia near the coast, where the building of the Economic Society with an annexed garden was erected. This second attempt failed due to the annexation of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to the Kingdom of Italy. Later, by decree of Victor Emmanuel II on February 11, 1886, the Society was permanently suppressed. In 1964, a few years after the institute’s foundation in 1955, the garden’s surface area doubled. The new area was organized prioritizing regional flora.

12 Simi Palace

Simi Palace, current home to the Bari Archaeology Operations Center, is a Renaissance-era house that seals a dense and tight archaeological stratification both vertically and horizontally. The wall stratifications accessible in the palace’s underground date from the early Middle Ages and Romanesque period, built over imperial remains (1st century). The elegant spaces of the ground floor and upper floors result from expansions and transformations of the original medieval core into a historic residence, carried out between the 16th and 17th centuries.

13 Earth Sciences Museum

The Earth Sciences Museum of the Department of Earth and Geoenvironmental Sciences at the University of Bari Aldo Moro is based on the historical collections acquired by our University in the late 1950s. The collections were housed in the University Palace until 1985; then transferred to the Department at the Earth Sciences Palace on the university campus in designated exhibition spaces. The Earth Sciences Museum currently includes a Geopaleontological section and a Mineralogical-Petrological section, with a total area of about 1000 sqm.

14 Zoo Museum of Bari

The Museum of the ‘‘Lidia Liaci’’ Biology Department of the University of Bari Aldo Moro was founded in 1925. After several relocations, in 1992 the Museum rooms were moved to the university campus. Today, it is an exhibition space of about 170 sqm, divided into two rooms and housing just over a thousand zoological specimens. It conducts research, environmental protection, teaching, and scientific dissemination activities. Teaching is aimed at natural, biological, and environmental science students and consists of practical exercises in recognition and prospecting of preparations, film screenings, and seminars. Outreach is carried out through guided tours for schoolchildren of all ages, film screenings, use of multimedia technologies, and conference cycles on aspects of animal life and nature conservation. It is a member of the Interdepartmental Service Center for Scientific Museology (CISMUS) and collaborates with numerous organizations for the study and protection of Apulian ecosystems.

15 Palace of the Apulian Aqueduct

The Palace of the Bari Aqueduct (Water Palace) was designed in 1924 by engineer Cesare Brunetti and completed in 1932. The building’s style explicitly references the early 20th-century Cambellotti aesthetic. Furniture and decorations were commissioned from Duilio Cambellotti, who drew on the water theme, engaging specialized firms for manufacturing furniture, stained glass windows, marble decorations, terracotta, and wrought iron pieces. In 2000, some modifications were made, especially on the first floor, to open a museum of the History of AQP and a conference hall.

16 Africa-Mozambique Ethnographic Museum of Bari

The Africa Mozambique Ethnographic Museum was inaugurated in 1980. Work on its realization began in the 1950s when the first Missionary Fathers arrived in Apulia. After 1950, at various times, the missionaries continued returning to Italy for holidays and rest, bringing from Africa many and various local handicraft objects. Initially collected in a room of the Sanctuary of Santa Fara, these artifacts later formed the core of the museum with its establishment.

17 Overseas Fallen Heroes Memorial Museum

The Overseas Military Cemetery Memorial, built by Engineers of the Ministry of Defense, was inaugurated on December 10, 1967. It houses the mortal remains of over 75,000 fallen soldiers, including 45,000 unknown, repatriated following the closure of war cemeteries constructed overseas where Italian units operated during WWI and WWII (Balkans, North and East Africa). The vast surrounding area, arranged as a park, hosts the open-air museum with monuments to the fallen and military memorabilia. The Polish Military Cemetery in Casamassima, caring for 431 Polish soldiers from WWII, depends on this Memorial.

18 Other Places to Visit in Bari

• State Archive of Bari
• Sagarriga Visconti Volpi National Library

19 Surroundings of Bari: Torre Pelosa

In the hamlet of Torre a Mare near Bari, around 1500, to defend the coast from pirate and raider incursions that infested the Adriatic Sea, a watchtower was built, still standing in the center of the main square. Since then, the place was named “Torre Apellosa” or “Torre Lapillosa“, later changed to “Torre Pelosa”, becoming a small fishermen’s village mostly living in trulli and natural caves and sheltering their boats in the small harbor at the mouth of the Giotta stream.

20 What to Eat in Bari

Bari dishes borrow from the Apulian cuisine though some are distinctly local. Among them certainly the Bari tiella (rice, potatoes, and mussels), but there are other dishes to savor as well. For this reason, we have written an article with some suggestions on what to eat and where in Bari.