BARI HISTORY
Bari was probably founded by the Peucetians. Once it passed under Roman rule (3rd cent. B.C), it became strategic as the point of junction between the coast road and the Via Traiana and as a port for eastward trade. Its harbor was probably the main one of the district in ancient times and it was the centre of a
fishery. The first Bishop of Bari was Gervasio. Until the Normans arrived, Bari was governed by the Byzantines. Throughout the Middle Age, Bari served as one of the major slave depots of the Mediterranean.
The slaves were mostly captured by Venice from Dalmatia, and by the Byzantines from elsewhere in the
Balkans. For 20 years, Bari was captured by Islamic invaders and became the Emirate of Bari under the
emir Kalfun in 847. The city was reconquered by the Byzantines in 871, and In 885, it became the residence of the local Byzantine governor. In 1025, under the Archbishop of Byzantium, Bari was granted
"provincial" status. In 1071, Bari was conquered by Robert Guiscard, after a three-year siege. In 1095 Peter the Hermit preached the first crusade there. In October 1098, Urban II convened the Council of Bari,
one of a series of synods. A civil war broke out in Bari in 1117. Bari was occupied by Manuel I Komnenos
(1155–1158). In 1246, Bari was sacked and razed to the ground. Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor and
King of Sicily, repaired the fortress of Bari which was subsequently destroyed several times. Isabel of
Aragon and Gian Galeazzo Sforza rebuilt the Swabian Castle (1499 -1524). In 1808 Murat ordered the
building of a new section of the city, which bears his name today. In this period, Bari developed into the
most important port city of the region.
History of the Port
On the night of 2nd December 1943, German bombers attacked the port of Bari, which was a key center
for Allied forces. Several allied ships were sunk in the overcrowded harbor, the ships were carrying mustard gas. The chemical agent had to be used, if German forces began chemical warfare. The presence of
the gas was highly classified. This increased the number of fatalities, people died with the effects of mustard gas. On the orders of allied leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower, documents were destroyed and the whole affair was kept secret for many years after the war. The
U.S. records of the attack were declassified in 1959, but the episode remained obscure until 1967. Indeed, even today, many inhabitants of Bari are still unaware of what happened and why.
20