Taranto (Italian pronunciation: [ˈtaːranto] ⓘ; Tarantino: Tarde; previously called Tarent in English)[a] is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy.

[5] Founded by Spartans in the 8th century BC during the period of Greek colonisation, Taranto was among the most important poleis in Magna Graecia, becoming a cultural, economic and military power that gave birth to philosophers, strategists, writers and athletes such as Archytas, Aristoxenus, Livius Andronicus, Heracleides, Iccus, Cleinias, Leonidas, Lysis and Sosibius.

[citation needed] The islets of S. Pietro and S. Paolo (St. Peter and St. Paul), collectively known as Cheradi Islands, protect the bay, called Mar Grande (Big Sea), where the commercial port is located.

At the end of the 19th century, a channel was excavated to allow naval ships to enter the Mar Piccolo harbour, and the ancient Greek city become an island connected to the mainland by bridges.

[citation needed]The natural harbor at Taranto made it a logical home port for the Italian naval fleet before and during the First World War.

The first of these forms a rough triangle, whose corners are the opening to the east and the Porta Napoli channel linking it to the Big Sea in the west.

Phalanthus, the Parthenian leader, went to Delphi to consult the oracle: the puzzling answer designated the harbour of Taranto as the new home of the exiles.

The Partheniae arrived in Apulia, and founded the city, naming it Taras after the son of the Greek sea god, Poseidon, and of a local nymph,[19] Satyrion.

The highly artistic coins presented the symbol of the city, Taras being saved by a dolphin, with the reverse side showing the likeness of a hippocamp, a horse-fish amalgam which is depicted in mythology as the beast that drew Poseidon's chariot.

[22] The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history, employing 21 Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious in the Mediterranean Sea.

[23] The attack struck the battle fleet of the Regia Marina at anchor in the harbour of Taranto, using aerial torpedoes despite the shallowness of the water.

It was born on the initiative of thirty-year-old veterans who, returning from the Second World War, gathered in the «Cultural Club (Circolo della cultura)» and the newspaper 'Voce del Popolo'.

Several artists of international calibre, such as Pier Paolo Pasolini, Carlo Emilio Gadda, and Giorgio de Chirico, participated.

He was appointed following the resignation of the mayor, Rossana Di Bello, on account of her sixteen-month prison sentence for abuse of office and forgery of documents relating to investigations into the contract for the management of the city incinerator, awarded to Termomeccanica.

Taranto railway station connects the city with Rome, Naples, Milan, Bologna, Bari, Reggio di Calabria and Brindisi.

As a consequence of the pollutants discharged into the air by the factories in the area, most notably the ILVA steel plant, part of Gruppo Riva.

[28] In 2013, the ILVA plant was placed under special administration when its owner, the Riva family, was accused of failing to prevent toxic emissions,[29] which caused at least 400 premature deaths.

[31] The castle, which was designed by Italian painter and architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini, replaced a pre-existing 9th-century Byzantine fortress, which was deemed unfit for 15th-century warfare.

[9] The Promenade (lungomare), named after former Italian king Victor Emmanuel III, overlooks the Mar Grande, the natural harbour and commercial port.

[citation needed] The Concattedrale Gran Madre di Dio, designed by Gio Ponti, was built in 1967–1971 in reinforced concrete and is one of the most significant late works by the architect.

Today it retains the same street layout of 967, when the Byzantines under Nicephorus Phocas rebuilt what the Saracen troops led by the Slavic Sabir had razed to the ground in 927 AD.

[34] There are four main arteries (Corso Vittorio II, Via Duomo, Via di Mezzo and Via Garibaldi) which run in a straight direction however the side streets were purposely built narrow and winding to impede the passage of an invading army.

[35] Incorporating the Aragon Castle, Doric Columns, City Hall, Clock Tower and Piazza Fontana, it is situated and entirely enclosed on the artificial island between the Big and Little Seas and is reached from the New City by crossing the Ponte Girevole (swing bridge) from the south and the Ponte di Porta Napoli from the north.

[34] The nobility, clergy and military personnel made their homes in Baglio and San Pietro, whilst the artisans and fishermen dwelled in Ponte and Turipenne.

The San't Andrea degli Armeni church in Piazza Monteoliveto, located in the Baglio quarter, stands as testimony to the neighbourhood where the Armenians made their homes.

[32] Close to the San Agostino church, located near Pendio La Riccia, the buried remains of an ancient Greek temple were discovered.

Beginning in 1934 Benito Mussolini embarked on a project of rejuvenation that involved the demolition of the working class Turipenne pittaggio along the Via Garibaldi and ''Discesa Vasto'' which contained the homes of local fishermen as well as the old Jewish quarter.

Between 2013 and 2014 two Neapolitan urban artists Cyop and Kaf embarked on a project to decorate derelict buildings, walls and doors in the piazzi and vicoli with 120 representations of street art.

[citation needed] Census populations The city is the centre of the Tarantino dialect (dialètte tarandíne) of the Neapolitan language.

Taranto's cuisine is characterised by local products, especially vegetables and fish like artichokes, eggplants, tomatoes, olives, onions, shrimps, octopus, sardines, squid and, above all, mussels.