Taranto

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Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, southern Italy. It is the capital of Province of Taranto and is an important military and commercial port.

The swing bridge is the symbol of Taranto.

It is the third largest continental city of southern Italy: according to the 2001 census, it has population of 201,349.

Its coordinates are [40°28′N 17°14′E]. Its altitude is 15 metres above sea level, with a surface area of 217 km². The postal code is 74100, the phone prefix is 099, and the fiscal code is L049.

Taranto is an important commercial and military port. It has well-developed steel and iron foundries, oil refineries, chemical works, some shipyards for building warships, and food-processing factories.

Taranto history dates back to the 8th century BC when it was founded as a Greek colony. The ancient city was situated on a peninsula, protected by a helm; the modern city has been built over the ancient Greek necropolis. The islets of S. Pietro and S. Paolo (St. Peter and St. Paul) protect the bay, called Mar Grande (Big Sea), where the commercial port is located. Another bay, called Mar Piccolo (Little Sea), is formed by the old city, and there fishing is flourishing; Mar Piccolo is a military port with a strategic importance; at the end of the 19th century, a channel was excavated to allow the military ships to enter Mar Piccolo harbour, and the ancient Greek city become an island. In addition, the islets and the coast are strongly fortified.

-->Because of the presence of these two bays, Taranto is also called “the city of the two seas”.

Taranto is also famous for the British attack on the Regia Marina base during the World War II, known as the Battle (or Night) of Taranto.

History

Origins

Ancient coin from Taranto, with the eponym Taras hero riding a dolphin.

Taranto was founded in 706 BC by Dorian immigrants as the only Spartan colony, and its origin is peculiar: the founders are parthenii, sons of unmarried Spartan women and perioikoi (free men, but not citizens of Sparta); these unions were decided by the Spartans to increase the number of soldiers (only the citizens of Sparta could become soldiers) during the bloody Messenian wars, but later they were nullified, and the sons were forced to leave. Phalanthus, the parthenian leader, went to Delphi to consult the oracle: the puzzling answer designed the harbour of Taranto as the new home of the exiles. The Parthenii arrived in Apulia, and founded the city, naming it Taras after the son of the Greek sea god, Poseidon, and of a local nymph, Satyrion. According to other sources, Heracles founded the city. Another tradition indicates Taras as the founder of the city; the symbol of the Greek city (as well as of the modern city) is Taras riding a dolphin. Taranto increased its power, becoming a commercial power and a sovereign city of Magna Graecia, ruling over the Greek colonies in southern Italy.

Main sights

Notable people

• Archytas of Tarentum, philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, statesman, strategist and commander-in-chief of the army of Taranto;
• Philolaus, mathematician and philosopher.
• Aristoxenus, peripatetic philosopher, and writer on music and rhythm;
• Leonidas of Tarentum, poet;
• Rhinthon (c. 323–285 BC), dramatist;
• Livius Andronicus, poet;
• Titus Quinctius Flamininus, propraetor of Tarentum;
• Pacuvius, tragic poet, died in Tarentum in 130 BC;
• Cataldus, archibishop of Taranto, saint, and patronus;
• Bohemond of Taranto, key military leader on the First Crusade
• Gil Cardinal Albornoz, archibishop of Taranto in 1644;
• Giovanni Paisiello, composer;
• Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Napoleonic army general and novelist, died in Taranto;
• Etienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald (1765 - 1840), duke of Taranto and marshal of France;

Citations

Horace to Septimius Odes - Plate

"Dearest of all to me is that nook of earth
 which yields not to Hymettus for its honey, nor for its olive to green Venafrum;
 where heaven grants a long springtime and warmth in winter,
 and in the sunny hollows Bacchus fosters a vintage noble as the Falernian." 
Horace - To Septimius (Odes, II , 6-10)''

Miscellaneous

• Star of David: "A David's shield has recently been noted on a Jewish tombstone at Tarentum, in southern Italy, which may date as early as the third century of the common era."
• Tarentum was included in the hit PC game Rome: Total War as the governing settlement for Apulia as well as the capital of the Roman Faction of Brutii

Sources and external links

• [Satellite map, Google Maps]
• [Culture centre Filonide]
• [Heraldica.org- Napoleonic heraldry]
• [Tourism in Taranto]
• [Taranto Community]

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