Trani

Trani (Italian pronunciation: [ˈtraːni] ⓘ) is a seaport of Apulia, Southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, 40 kilometres (25 mi) by railway west-northwest of Bari.

In the year 1063 Trani issued the Ordinamenta et consuetudo maris, which is "the oldest surviving maritime law code of the Latin West".

In that period many great families from the main Italian Maritime Republics (Amalfi, Pisa, Genova and Venice) established themselves in Trani.

The presence of other consulates in many northern Europe centres, even in England and Netherlands, shows Trani's trading and political importance in the Middle Ages.

[6] Under the House of Bourbon, however, Trani recovered a certain splendour, thanks to the generally improved condition of Southern Italy economy and the construction of several magnificent buildings.

[8] Trani has lost its old city walls and bastions, but the 13th-century fort has been extensively restored as a museum and performance venue and is open to the public.

The arches of the Romanesque portal are beautifully ornamented, in a manner suggestive of Arab influence; the bronze doors, executed by Barisanus of Trani in 1175, rank among the best of their period in Southern Italy.

The interior of the cathedral has been widely modernized,[9] but the crypt remains similar to the origins and was a renowned repository of relics, among which the body of the martyr St. Febronia of Nisibis.

Scolanova Synagogue.
The cathedral
The old fort
Panoramic entrance to the harbour of Trani.