From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Comune di Gravina in Puglia
Municipal coat of arms
Country	Italy
Region	Puglia
Province	Bari
Mayor	Onofrio Vendola (since 2005-04-06)
Elevation	350 m
Area	381 km²
Population
- Total (as of December 31, 2005)	43,671
- Density	114/km²
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	40°49′N, 16°25′E
Gentilic	Gravinesi
Dialing code	080
Postal code	70024
Frazioni	Dolcecanto; Murgetta
Patron	St. Michael Archangel, St. Philip Neri
- Day	September 29
Location of Gravina in Puglia in Italy
Website: www.comune.gravina.ba.it

Gravina in Puglia(Gravina in Apulia) is an Italian municipality in the Southern Italian Province of Bari, site along a river of the same name in the Western Murgia geographical area of Apulia.

It is the seat of the Parco Nazionale dell'Alta Murgia National Park.

The name stem from the motto given to the city by Emperor Frederick II, Grana dat at vina (Latina: "It gives grain and wine").

Contents 1 History 2 Main sights 3 Culture 4 See also 5 Sources and external links

Gravina was founded by the Greeks during the colonization of Greater Greece, as a polis with the right of a mint of his own. The Romans conquered it after the 3rd Samnite War (305 BC). The Via Appia, which linked Rome to Brindisi, passed through Gravina.

Later it was ruled by Byzantines, Lombards ans North African Muslims.

The city was the site of a Norman countship in the Hauteville Kingdom of Sicily and in the later Kingdom of Naples. A famous count of the former was Gilbert, who was sent by his cousin, the Queen regent Margaret of Navarre to the peninsula to combat the Holy Roman Emperor. In the latter period it was the hereditary fief of John, Duke of Durazzo.

From 1386 to 1816 it was a fief of the Orsini family: the pope Benedict XIII (Pietro Francesco Orsini) was born here in 1649. The feudal oppression led to numerous riots, in particular from 1789 until the unification of Italy.

Gravina was partly destroyed by Allied bombings during World War II.

• The cathedral of Gravina (11th-12th centuries) was built by the Normans in Romanesque style. Destroyed by fires and earthquakes in the mid-15th century, It houses a splendid reliquary an arm of the English St. Thomas à Becket, obtained by Bishop Roberto in 1179.
• The remains of Frederick II's castle, site on a hill nearby the city, orinigary more a base for bird hunting. According to Giorgio Vasari, it was designed in 1231 by one Fuccio from Florence.
• Church of San Francesco (late 15th-early 16th century)
• Church of Sant'Agostino, with a simple white façade
• The Baroque church of Madonna delle Grazie, with an unusual façade sporting a rose window surrounded by a large carved eagle, coat of arms of the Giustiniani.
• San Sebastiano, a noteworthy Renaissance edifice. It has a nave and two aisles separated by pilasters. Notable is also the cloister of the annexed convent, with capitals decorated with animal and vegetable figures.

Gravina has also some noteworthy churches carved out from the tufa rocks (Chiese rupestri), including the 10th century San Michele delle Grotte. It has also a well preserved Roman bridge.

Gravina is famous for one of the oldest fairs in Europe: the Saint George's Fair has been held each April since 1294.

• Bishopric of Gravina and Montepeloso

• Gravina website
• "Etnikàntaro" Gravina's group of ethnic-popular music
• Official site of 712 Saint George's Fair
• Documentary Film about the Sassi di Matera and the Gravina, Roba Forestiera, 44 min., 2004
• Gravina in Puglia on ItalianVisits.com

Coordinates: 40°49′N, 16°25′E