Il Torrione is a 16th-century structure with lookout and defense functions against Turkish raids. Along with the chapel and the first haylofts, it formed the first inhabited nucleus of “Saline di Barletta,” the name the municipality kept until 1879.
It is flanked by old buildings from the second half of the nineteenth century, which served as depots for “Exceptional Salts.” This tower was built after the renovation of the Barletta castle by the military architect Evangelista Menga from Copertino (circa 1540).
It is 12.67 meters high and today houses the municipal art gallery inside, which preserves over 150 works including paintings, sculptures, and drawings by artists of this century.
There are also reproductions of Raphael, Masaccio, and Guido Reni. Interesting is “Il Pastorello,” a painting by Francesco Galante, a late 19th-century Neapolitan school painter.
Information about the municipal art gallery “F.Galante Civera”
Corso Vittorio Emanuele c/o Torrione 91, 7601 Margherita di Savoia (Barletta-Andria-Trani)
Tel. (+39) 0883.657519 – Email: ufficio.cultura@comune.margheritadisavoia.bt.it
