Get in touch with the true essence of Bari (Italy) and its old town.

in #travelfeed4 years ago


The city of Bari has two souls, a more commercial and touristic and the other that respect the traditions of this city.
Walking through the historical centre to discover the less well-known alleys and to get in touch with the true essence of Bari, a world of colors and warm-heartedness of its inhabitants will welcome the visitors.
Of course, there's a grave danger of getting lost in the maze of narrow alleyways, but all you have to do is ask a locals to get back to areas most frequented and famous to level tourist.

I strongly suggest you to plunge into a real tour around the historical centre to better understand what I'm talking about.. I will try my best to explain it to you and I will do so through my pictures!


My starting point could not but be the peripheral zone of the historical centre, what I would also call that of Bari Movida and most known touristic area.

Beautiful squares, historical fountains, famous streets close to the "Muraglia" which offers wonderful views of the seafront; I admit I’ve enjoyed this beautiful area stopping off in one of the area's many coffee shop for a cup of coffee... and a piece of cake offered to me by coffee manager whom I stopped to talk to about the city.
The cake was delicious and he called it "sporcamuss" (translation, "dirty your mouth"), a delicious flakey pastry filled with a hot cream. The name is due to the fact that it should be served warm and you can’t eat a sporcamuss without dirty your mouth and face!


I came across a most unusual monument in Mercantile Square: the "Colonna Infame" (the Pillar of Shame). Situated in a quiet corner of the square, in ancient times (16th century) was the place where the swindlers or insolvent debtors were tied up to be pilloried.
The monument is composed of a circular pedestal , with a marble pillar placed at the centre, surmounted by a cannon ball and a lion statue that supports the column.


From here I started a deeper walk into the heart of the historic centre with the goal to get in touch with the true essence of Bari.. and if I'm honest the "world" opened to me. And it was totally different from what I saw till then!

The surrounding area has become a much more popular environment without any frills and unnecessary glitz... only everyday life!
I sensed it in a variety of forms: the smells of good food or the scent of fresh laundry but but above all, the gestures and expressions typical of who speaks the dialect of Bari.
As I stared out into a stone arch, an old lady who was watching me on her own doorstep (a "settano" the typical house of Bari's old town) told me that it was "l'Arco delle Meraviglie" (the Wonder Arch) perhaps the most beautiful arch among the many in Bari historic centre.
Its history is very romatic and recalls that of Romeo and Juliet: It is said that it was built to bring two young lovers together; they belonged to two rival families who lived one in front of each other and that hindered their love.


Taking a walk through the side streets, it opens a succession of narrow streets and small alleys decorated with writings, engravings and apothropaic masks of each historical period.

Looking about me, there was something else that just jumped out at me.. the large number of votive aedicules! Colorful, simple, sculptures, bas-reliefs, paintings, teche or gravestones on the walls of the alleys or in the many arches of the historic centre.

I looked into it.. finding that there are even 240 votive aedicules all over the historic center, evidence of deep religious devotion of the locals. It can be observed almost across the whole historic centre and that gives color and folklore to its narrow streets and stone arches.

And in a historic center where there are so many churches, it could not be otherwise.
After viewing many other votive aedicules and after walking for several kilometres, I started to feel a bit hungry..


So, before returning home I went to the famous Panificio "Fiore" (bakery located behind the Pontifical Basilica di San Nicola near the Court of the Catapan) to taste the delicious "focaccia barese" (flatbread with cherry tomatoes and olives).


All photos taken by me.
Some photos contain some Lightroom post processing.
All rights reserved.



View this post on TravelFeed for the best experience.

Sort:  

Congratulations, Your Post Has Been Added To The Steemit Worldmap!
Author link: http://steemitworldmap.com?author=miti.blog
Post link: http://steemitworldmap.com?post=get-in-touch-with-the-true-essence-of-bari-italy-and-its-old-town


Want to have your post on the map too?

  • Go to Steemitworldmap
  • Click the code slider at the bottom
  • Click on the map where your post should be (zoom in if needed)
  • Copy and paste the generated code in your post
  • Congrats, your post is now on the map!

Italy looks like a really great place! Plus, the religious icons really add to the authenticity of the culture. @alliedforces curate 2

You got some love from a member of @thealliance family!
Keep up the great work and join us in The Castle sometime!
The #spreadlovenotwar curation campaign is under the guidance of witnesses @enginewitty and @untersatz.
Current VP: 94.64%

Hi @contrabourdon! I think it’s one of those places that has a high emotional impact and this is why it wins over the hearts of those who have once visited Bari for keeps.
Thank you for your appreciation and support!

@untersatz curate 2

This post has been upvoted by witness @untersatz. You've done a great job!
The @untersatz witness and manual curation is under the guidance of @contrabourdon and @organduo.
Current VP: 95.82%

Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
TIBLogo

You have been curated by @hafizullah on behalf of Inner Blocks: a community encouraging first hand content, with each individual living their best life, and being responsible for their own well being. #innerblocks Check it out at @innerblocks for the latest information and community updates, or to show your support via delegation.

Thank you @hafizullah, your support is much appreciated!

Congratulations! Your high-quality travel content was selected by @travelfeed curator @worldcapture and earned you a reward, in form of an upvote and a resteem. Your work really stands out! Your article now has a chance to get featured under the appropriate daily topic on our TravelFeed blog.
Thank you for being part of the TravelFeed community!

Thanks for posting through TravelFeed.io! You have received a larger upvote from us. We hope to see you soon on TravelFeed.io!
Posting through TravelFeed.io also makes your post eligible to participate in the travel writing contest by @invisusmundi where you can earn up to 100 STEEM! Read the contest announcement for more information on how to participate.

We are continuously working on improving TravelFeed, recently we presented at SteemFest⁴, published our Android app and launched our Steem witness.

Please consider voting for us as a witness. If you're not sure how to do that, it's easy: Head over to our Support Us page and hit the witness voting button to vote with Steem Keychain, or Steemconnect if you are not a Keychain user. Alternatively, use this Steemconnect link or head over to the Steemit Wallet and enter travelfeed in the box.


Learn more about TravelFeed by clicking on the banner above and join our community on Discord.

Wow beautiful pictures of a beautiful city.

Thank you, @sjarvie5! By the way is my city, so I particularly appreciate your words!

I see that you were featured in the steemitworldmap travel digest too! Congrats.

Oh yeah, I'm so happy I could conveying emotions, telling about a territory and its excellence. A photographer is always pleased to hear his work is appreciated! :-)

Hiya, @choogirl here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made into our Top 3 in Daily Travel Digest #703.

Your post has been manually curated by the @steemitworldmap team and got an upvote from @blocktrades to support your work. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider supporting us so we can keep the project going!

Become part of the Haveyoubeenhere community:


Thank you so much, @choogirl and @steemitworldmap! I'm very happy now!!! :-)

Congratulations @miti.blog! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

You received more than 1000 as payout for your posts. Your next target is to reach a total payout of 2000

You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!