Home > Itineraries > THE LONG TRAIL OF PDO RED FROM THE TERRITORIES OF BARLETTA AND CANOSA
Legend has it that it was one glass too many of the wine produced in Barletta that caused the Disfida, the challenge, of 13 February 1503, which saw the confrontation between 13 Italian and 13 French knights and was won by the “ours” led by Ettore Fieramosca. In memory of this event, the Cantina della Disfida, Cellar of the Challenge, has been rebuilt in the old town centre and a memorial stone has been placed on the plain between Corato and Andria where the tournament took place.
The production area of Barletta PDO red includes the territories between Andria, Barletta and Trani and, in the province of Foggia, the areas of San Ferdinando di Puglia and Trinitapoli.
Starting from Andria, a mention must go to one of Italy’s most famous castles, Castel del Monte, built by Emperor Frederick II as a symbol of his power: a large octagonal stone crown dominating the Murge as far as the sea.
In Andria, notable for its olive oil production, in addition to the historic centre rich of churches and palaces, the surrounding area is also an interesting place to walk, with its many lame which are wide furrows in the ground and karstic depressions such as the pulo di Gurgo with its caves used as hypogea. Don’t miss Andria underground, consisting of a network of tunnels and the remains of medieval dwellings that wind their way under the entire historic centre.
In Barletta, in addition to the castle, the cathedral and the Santo Sepolcro basilica, watched over by the statue of the Colossus of Heraclius, stop to admire the paintings by Giuseppe De Nittis on display in the Marra Palace, one of the city’s most beautiful palaces. Not far from the centre is the Archaeological Park of Canne, where the famous battle between the Romans and the Carthaginians took place in 216 BC.
Trani offers more than one reason to visit, starting with the cathedral and the castle by the sea. Also of interest is the old Jewish quarter, the Giudecca, where there were four synagogues that were converted into churches after the expulsion of the Jews from the city.
San Ferdinando is a town that dominates the Ofanto river valley and owes its name to the Saint Ferdinand III of Castile and Leon. Symbols of the village are the octagonal Clock Tower and the refined San Ferdinando artichoke.
Trinitapoli closes the route on the Barletta PDO Red wine road. Here you will find the Parco Archeologico degli Ipogei, an Archeologicasl park of underground oil mills, one of the most important Bronze Age sanctuaries in Italy. Another peculiar feature is the wetland area of the Trinitapoli and Margherita di Savoia Salt Pans, the largest in Apulia.
Hypogea and the surrounding area are common features between Trinitapoli and Canosa. Canosa is a very important archaeological centre. Here, there are more than 2,000 finds in the Archaeological Museum of Casieri Palace, but also many others unearthed in excavations are scattered around the world. In the Sinesi Palace, on the other hand, there is a collection of over 400 objects from the Varrese Tomb, discovered by chance by Sabino Varrese in 1912 together with other Daunian funerary structures.