The Ospedale generale regionale Francesco Miulli [it] in Acquaviva is one of the biggest hospitals in southern Italy, with a wide range of surgical departments and a center for the treatment of rare diseases.

The town rises at an average altitude of 300 meters above sea level in the Apulian hinterland, on the lower Murgia of Bari, not far from both the Adriatic and Ionian coasts.

The flat landscape that can be observed from the Collone and Monticelli districts, the highest areas of the territory, is suddenly interrupted by depressions called "lame", or old beds, now dry rivers, shaped by karst.

The fertility of the lands downstream, the richness of the spring waters or some devastation were the causes that pushed the inhabitants to move towards the current urban center.

The underground water, collected in the aquifers, was exploited for agricultural purposes and pulled up by the noria, according to the local language the 'ngegne, which was a machine activated by a donkey or a mule that circled endlessly (still today this object is visible in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II).

Passed to the Prince of Taranto Giovanni Antonio Orsini Del Balzo, the feud of Acquaviva was assigned as a dowry in 1456 to his daughter Caterina, wife of the Duke of Atri Giulio Antonio Acquaviva, together with the fiefs of Noci, Turi, Conversano, Castellana, Bitonto, Bitetto and Gioia del Colle.

The new feudal lord, with whom the de Mari family's dominion began which will last for over a century and a half, fixed his residence in the old castle of Acquaviva delle Fonti, transforming it into a wonderful baronial palace.

The transformation work of Carlo de Mari and his successors on the castle is radical: they completely transfigured it, bringing it to a structure very close to the current one, having the status of a noble palace.

The de Mari dynasty was characterized and studded by despotism, usurpations and exploitation to the people of Acquaviva, Gioia and Castellaneta until the abolition of feudality in 1806.

It was rebuilt and enlarged around the second half of the sixteenth century by Count Alberto Acquaviva d'Aragona and today retains the Renaissance style.

The façade is divided into three orders: in the central one it is possible to admire the magnificent rose window with sixteen arms richly decorated.

On the central portal with an interrupted cusp erected by Corinthian style columns resting on stone lions, there is represented God the Father, under whom there is the lunette with the bas-relief with the scene of the conversion of the Roman general Eustachio.

Built by the Genoese nobleman and Neapolitan patrician Carlo I de Mari, prince of Acquaviva, marquis of Assigliano and also owner of Gioia del Colle and Castellaneta, at the end of the 17th century.

The main facade with a large loggia, sees a central triple balustrade balcony on the grandiose lower entrance portal in Neapolitan style.

[6] To the north of the urban center, along the right of the Baronial blade, WWF Italy protects a shrub area called Oasis "Gioacchino Catone" and extended for 2.5 hectares.

In the mid-90s began the decline and withdrawal of the Acquavivese square which, slowly and thanks to the choices of the local administrators, lost the prestige of the past to the advantage of other neighbourding municipalities.

The Francesco Miulli regional hospital and an industrial area full of SMEs guarantee residents a per capita income among the highest in the whole of Southern Italy (ISTAT 2007 data).

The collection consisting of about a hundred ceramics of Apulian and Peucet origin, coming from the archaeological area of Salentino dates back to the centuries BC from, sixth and third, during the excavation campaigns carried out between 1976 and 1979 –, blades and scrapers dating back to the lithic industry of the Upper Paleolithic from the Curtomartino Cave and other finds from the areas of Ventauro and Baronaggio were found.

The red onion of Acquaviva and its famous "calzone" are celebrated with two festivals that take place at the end of July and mid-October each year.

On Tuesday morning the solemn pontifical ceremony is celebrated in the square, at the end of which the mayor hands over the keys of the city to the Protector, and in the evening the image of the Madonna is carried in procession.

The religious feast ends on Wednesday evening, when the image of the Madonna leaves the Cathedral again for the procession around Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II.

According to a tradition dating back to 1848, on Tuesday evening, the culmination of the party, a hot-air balloon is launched, weighing about one quintal and 21 meters high.

[17][18] The most important provincial roads that cross the territory of Acquaviva delle Fonti are: The Acquaviva delle Fonti station is located on the Bari-Taranto line at a similar kilometer distance from the two capitals, served by Trenitalia with 36 daily trips and 4 trips with replacement buses, and is located on the Bologna-Taranto-Reggio Calabria route.

To serve the Missile Field, in the 1960s the Le Chiasce station was built, near the Scappagrano district, on the original route of the Bari-Taranto line.

The town of Acquaviva delle Fonti was part of the Mountain community of the south-east Bari Murgia until 2010, the year of its definitive suppression.