BS (before stealing of saint Nicholas )


III century B.C Under the Roman Empire, Bari, a small Peucetan port, becomes
municipium cum suffragio (city with full rights of citizenship).


493 After the fall of the Roman Empire, Bari becomes part of the Ostrogoths
Kingdom.


553 After the Greek-Gothic War, Bari joins the Byzantine Empire. But the Byzantines can’t enjoy this victory for too long.


568 The Langobards come to Italy. For two centuries Langobards fight against
Byzantines to control the peninsula and Bari too. In Italy we say “among the two
fighters, the third one enjoys”. The third ones are the Arabs.


847 Arabs establish an emirate in the city. It will be ruled by just three caliphs,
Khalfūn, Mufarraj ibn Sallam, Sawdān: after your departure, fight your nostalgia for Peroni using their names
as tongue-twisters!


871 The emperor Ludwig II reconquers the city to Western christianity only just to
give it back again to Eastern christianity. The Byzantines are back and they make
Bari the capital of the thema di Langobardia (we should admit that they were loyal
towards their old rivals, as they left them the honour of the name!).


1071 Between some raids by the Saracens (clearly not as loyal as the Byzantines)
and a rescue from attacks led by the Venice doge Pietro II Orseolo, the Norman
ruler Robert Guiscard conquers Bari.


1087 During the Norman domination, the relics of Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra
(Turkey) are brought to Bari; relics are kept in the Basilica of St Nicholas which
is opened in 1089 and will be finished in 1197.


AS (after stealing of saint Nicholas)


1464 The Normans will be followed by Suebi, Anjou, Aragoneses and Sforza. Isabella of Aragon, wife of Gian Galeazzo Maria Sforza, and her daughter Bona Sforza, queen of Poland, established a refined Renaissance court in the castle of Bari.


1557 Death of Bona Sforza. The Spanish, Austrian and Bourbon dominations followed each other.


1808 Joseph Bonaparte, king of Naples, rules Bari.


April 24th 1813 Joachim Murat (1767-1815) sets the first stone of the new district rising next to the old town,
which still keeps this name (il borgo murattiano – Murat district).


1934 Opening of the Fiera del Levante 68 .


1943 The port of Bari is the scene of two main war events. On 9
September, general Nicola Bellomo leads few soldiers against the
enemy once he gets news the German army wants to destroy the
port… Thanks to the help of the people, he manages to stop them,
although after the 8th September many people (including general
Pietro Badoglio and the king) throw away their uniforms and run
away (in spite of his heroism, Bellomo will be executed for war crimes). On 2nd December of the same year, a German air raid causes
the sinking of 17 ships; among them, the Liberty ship John Harvey,
which was laden with mustard gas. The released gas makes hundreds of victims.



August 8th 1991 The ship Vlora arrives at the port: more than
20000 Albanians are on board. It’s the largest disembarking of
immigrants in Italy ever. They were running away after the economic and political crisis that took place in Albania due to the
end of Communism.


October 26th and 27th 1991 The Petruzzelli theatre is on
fire (reconstructed and inaugurated in 2009). This deep open
wound in the heart of the city is the beginning of the urban regeneration: the old town, until then a poor area, is redesigned
by the EU project URBAN II (1994-1999). The port, the airport,
the interport and the railway are all due for infrastructural renovation.


April 2nd , 23rd and 24th 2006 The Apulia Region demolishes Punta
Perotti, a very huge and horrible building situated close to the city
beach.