The island between two seas and the Aragonese castle
Taranto is called the "city of two seas": it stands between the Mar Grande, the open gulf of the Ionian Sea, and the Mar Piccolo, an inner lagoon divided into two basins, fed by freshwater springs that bubble up from the bottom, the "citri", famous for the farming of mussels. Between the two seas lies the Città Vecchia, the old town, on an island created in the fifteenth century by digging a navigable canal to defend the city.
The island is connected to the modern city by the Ponte Girevole, the swing bridge, inaugurated in 1887 and rebuilt in 1958, one of the symbols of Taranto: its two halves rotate on themselves to let ships of the Italian Navy pass from the Mar Grande to the Mar Piccolo, where the military arsenal is located. Next to the bridge stands the Castello Aragonese, rebuilt in the fifteenth century by Ferdinand of Aragon on earlier fortifications, with massive round towers, still owned by the Navy, which organises free guided tours. The old town, once rich and then long neglected, is today being restored: its narrow lanes hide the Cathedral of San Cataldo, the oldest in Apulia, with a baroque façade and a silver statue of the saint, the remains of a Doric temple and noble palaces overlooking the sea.
Tip: the castle tours are run by naval personnel; at Easter, Taranto's Holy Week processions are among the most impressive in Italy.
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