A trip to Bari, the Paris of the South Noble city: history, sparkling shop-windows and great ferment
Elegant, refined, discreet, Bari is so much so that it has been defined the Paris of the South. It is a noble city and preserves the fascination of a past full of history. The itinerary begins from the old city, protected by an ancient medieval wall that is also a special panoramic spot, where there is a pedestrian viewpoint route, where it is possible to observe the coming and going of the fishing boats. After entering the labyrinth of white narrow lanes, in every step reveals, between white houses in Moorish style, some ancient church, a palace, a courtyard. A time this area was not very much visited because of the risk of bag-snatching. Nowadays, instead, it is of great interest and fashionable with many trendy places and stores for shopping. Artists and professionals live in this area and at night there is a lot of “movida”. Here under our eyes the parade of Piazza del Ferrarese with the colourful fruit, vegetables and spices stalls, under the nineteenth century vaults, where once there was the fish market and Piazza Mercantile, heart of the city business exchanges. Every thing here is done under the gaze of Saint Nicholas, Bari’s saint patron very much loved by the citizens, whose mortal remains arrived to Bari from Myra (today Demre) in Asia Minor in 1087 and are now guarded in the Basilica (www.basilicasannicola.it), that is among the most important examples of Apulia Romanesque architecture. Recently the keys of the sacred building have been delivered symbolically to the Russian president Dmitri Medvedev. At the limits of the old city, the Svevian Castle stands out, a bastion with a trapeze shape layout and four corner towers, built under Isabel of Aragon. During the Crusades it was used to give shelter to the knights in departure and arrival from the Holy Land. Currently it is an important centre of temporary exhibitions and hosts the peculiar Museum of the Gypsum-theque (Gipsoteca), that holds gypsum moulds of decorative sculptures of religious and civil monuments of Apulia. The centre heart is the Murattian Village, built under Joachim Murat, king of Naples, with squared and compact palaces. To be admired the splendid triptych of historical theatres: the Petruzzelli, in Corso Cavour (returned to shine after the fire of 1991), the Town Theatre, named after the composer native of Bari Niccolò Piccinni and the Politeama Margherita, once a celebrated temple of the variety show. It strikes for form and decorations also the Kursaal Santa Lucia, on the Levant Sea Promenade, important liberty style testimony. Inside it, there is the elegant deco style restaurant. It is also attracting the sign of Fashion Room (via Roberto da Bari, 6), a bookshop that wouldn’t be, per fashion, design and international furnishing reviews, out of place if it was in the French capital. For a gourmand pause, the right place is the Bacco Restaurant (Corso Vittorio Emanuele 126 tel. 0039-080-5275871 closure in August, Sunday evenings and Mondays, www.ristorantebacco.it), where it is worthwhile to try the delicious Bari tiella (rice, mussels and potatoes), a recipe which reflects the wealth of the Apulian town in joining together the perfumes of land and sea. On the same road for the after-dinners there is in the Pub Costes (street number 35), that was named after the Costes Hotel of Paris and that launched a compilation of lounge music. For sleeping there is the Palace Hotel (Via Lombardi, 13, tel. +39.080.5216551), near the sea and the old city, with two hundred customized rooms, among which the “music room” and the “babies room”, where also VIPs hang out in. Liz Taylor during the filming of “The Young Toscanini” by Franco Zeffirelli, leased an entire floor for a month.
Elegant, refined, discreet, Bari is so much so that it has been defined the Paris of the South. It is a noble city and preserves the fascination of a past full of history. The itinerary begins from the old city, protected by an ancient medieval wall that is also a special panoramic spot, where there is a pedestrian viewpoint route, where it is possible to observe the coming and going of the fishing boats. After entering the labyrinth of white narrow lanes, in every step reveals, between white houses in Moorish style, some ancient church, a palace, a courtyard. A time this area was not very much visited because of the risk of bag-snatching. Nowadays, instead, it is of great interest and fashionable with many trendy places and stores for shopping. Artists and professionals live in this area and at night there is a lot of “movida”. Here under our eyes the parade of Piazza del Ferrarese with the colourful fruit, vegetables and spices stalls, under the nineteenth century vaults, where once there was the fish market and Piazza Mercantile, heart of the city business exchanges. Every thing here is done under the gaze of Saint Nicholas, Bari’s saint patron very much loved by the citizens, whose mortal remains arrived to Bari from Myra (today Demre) in Asia Minor in 1087 and are now guarded in the Basilica (www.basilicasannicola.it), that is among the most important examples of Apulia Romanesque architecture. Recently the keys of the sacred building have been delivered symbolically to the Russian president Dmitri Medvedev. At the limits of the old city, the Svevian Castle stands out, a bastion with a trapeze shape layout and four corner towers, built under Isabel of Aragon. During the Crusades it was used to give shelter to the knights in departure and arrival from the Holy Land. Currently it is an important centre of temporary exhibitions and hosts the peculiar Museum of the Gypsum-theque (Gipsoteca), that holds gypsum moulds of decorative sculptures of religious and civil monuments of Apulia. The centre heart is the Murattian Village, built under Joachim Murat, king of Naples, with squared and compact palaces. To be admired the splendid triptych of historical theatres: the Petruzzelli, in Corso Cavour (returned to shine after the fire of 1991), the Town Theatre, named after the composer native of Bari Niccolò Piccinni and the Politeama Margherita, once a celebrated temple of the variety show. It strikes for form and decorations also the Kursaal Santa Lucia, on the Levant Sea Promenade, important liberty style testimony. Inside it, there is the elegant deco style restaurant. It is also attracting the sign of Fashion Room (via Roberto da Bari, 6), a bookshop that wouldn’t be, per fashion, design and international furnishing reviews, out of place if it was in the French capital. For a gourmand pause, the right place is the Bacco Restaurant (Corso Vittorio Emanuele 126 tel. 0039-080-5275871 closure in August, Sunday evenings and Mondays, www.ristorantebacco.it), where it is worthwhile to try the delicious Bari tiella (rice, mussels and potatoes), a recipe which reflects the wealth of the Apulian town in joining together the perfumes of land and sea. On the same road for the after-dinners there is in the Pub Costes (street number 35), that was named after the Costes Hotel of Paris and that launched a compilation of lounge music. For sleeping there is the Palace Hotel (Via Lombardi, 13, tel. +39.080.5216551), near the sea and the old city, with two hundred customized rooms, among which the “music room” and the “babies room”, where also VIPs hang out in. Liz Taylor during the filming of “The Young Toscanini” by Franco Zeffirelli, leased an entire floor for a month.
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