Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea.

The name comes from the Latin Brundisium through the Greek Brentesion and Messapi Brention, meaning "head of the deer" related to Albanian bri, brî - pl.

The Latin name Brundisium, through the Greek Brentesion, is a corruption of the Messapian Brention meaning "deer's head" and probably referring to the shape of the natural harbour.

[8] The peninsula of the Punta lands, which is located in the outer harbor, has been identified as a Bronze Age village (16th century BC) where a group of huts, protected by a barrier of stones, yielded fragments of Mycenaean pottery.

The necropolis of Tor Pisana (south of the old town of Brindisi) returned Corinthian jars in the first half of the 7th century BC.

The Brindisi Messapia certainly entertained strong business relationships with the opposite side of the Adriatic and the Greek populations of the Aegean Sea.

and was again attacked in 42 and 40 BC, with the latter giving rise to the Treaty of Brundisium between Octavian, Mark Antony and Lepidus in the autumn of the same year.

Under the Romans, Brundisium – a large city in its day with some 100,000 inhabitants – was an active port, the chief point of embarkation for Greece and the East, via Dyrrachium or Corcyra.

After the baronial revolt of 1132, owned[clarification needed] by the will of Roger II of Sicily, the city recovered some of the splendor of the past during the period of the Crusades, when it regained the Episcopal See, saw the construction of the new cathedral and a castle with an essential new arsenal, and became a privileged port for the Holy Land.

[12] On 19 May 2012, a bomb made of three gas cylinders, detonated in front of a vocational school in Brindisi, killing a 16-year-old female student.

Within the arms of the outer harbour islands are Pedagne, a tiny archipelago, currently not open and in use for military purposes (United Nations Group Schools used it during the intervention in Bosnia).

Since the 1960s, when the large petrochemical companies were joined by mechanical, naval, and aviation corporations, Brindisi was able to create employment opportunities for technicians and workers.

Another important chapter in the demography of the town was the exodus of people from Albania in 1990–1991, which lasted almost a decade and led to the port of Brindisi receiving waves of Albanian immigrants.

This phenomenon is relatively recent in Apulia, known as "Salentoshire", a playful neologism along the lines of "Chiantishire" on the consolidation of British tourism in Tuscany.

The bishop Theodosius was successful in recovering the relics of St Leucio at the end of the 9th and keeping them in a basicila he built on top of the martyrium of the saint.

The rite of the Greek presence in Brindisi has long been established since the rule of the Byzantine Empire with a strong spread of the Basilian monks.

The University of Bari has courses in Business Administration, Management and Consulting, Economics, Maritime and Logistics, Information Technology, Design, Nursing and Physiotherapy.

The "F. Ribezzo" Provincial Archaeological Museum is located in Piazza Duomo and has many large rooms, providing visitors with six sections: epigraphy, sculpture, the antiquarium, prehistoric, coins, medieval, modern and bronzes of Punta del Serrone.

Particularly important is the silver embossed Ark that has the remains of St Theodore of Amasea and a 7th-century pitcher, in which one can recognize the wedding at Cana.

Depending on season, are the tops of turnips, various types of cabbage, the beet greens from the thistle, peppers, eggplant and zucchini (all served sun-dried or in olive oil), and artichokes.

Special local dishes include lasagna with vegetables, cavatelli, orecchiette (stacchioddi in Brindisi dialect) and ravioli stuffed with ricotta.

Another specialty is cartellate, a pastry, particularly prepared around Christmas, made of a thin strip of a dough made of flour, olive oil, and white wine that is wrapped upon itself, intentionally leaving cavities and openings, to form a sort of "rose" shape; the dough is then deep-fried, dried, and soaked in either lukewarm vincotto or honey.

[30] From an urban point of view [58] [59], the city's earliest signs of human settlement are on the promontory of Punta Terre, a coastal area outside the port.

During the Middle Ages, Brindisi suffered a sharp decline, after it was devastated by the Goths in the 6th century; Procopius describes it as a small city without defensive walls.

The city was divided into three districts or "pittachi": Santo Stefano (in the vicinity of the columns), Eufemia (in Santa Teresa) and San Toma (in the area of Saint Lucia).

[23] Demographic development in the 20th century led to the modern city overlying the ancient one, at the cost of the demolition of the neighbourhoods around San Pietro degli Schiavoni, Teatro Verdi, and the Clock Tower.

The city has now expanded beyond the walls of the historic centre to form the new suburbs of Commando, Capuchins, Sant'Angelo (1950–1970 ) and St. Clare, St. Elias, and Bozzano (1980–2000).

The various establishments of Eni, located as Polimeri Europa, Snam and EniPower are placed in the petrochemical complex of Brindisi, on the outskirts of the city, overlooking the Adriatic Sea.

The strategic position of the airport in the Mediterranean region, along with its natural potential for multi-modal (the port is a few kilometers away) operations, have made it a base of crucial importance for both national defense and NATO.

On behalf of governments, other UN agencies and NGOs, from UNHRD Brindisi humanitarian aid is directed to the most remote and devastated regions around the world.