PUTIGNANO
Putignano is an agricultural
centre of the Murge with Peucetian origins, famous for its
Medieval Carnival, Trulli and grottos spread throughout its
territory.
The Peucetians is an ethnic group derived from the Lapigi
from Illyria, who disembarked in Puglia giving the origins
to three new groups: the Daunii in the North, the Peucetians
in the centre and the Messapians in the South.
In a more recent period in Putignano, it was the Benedictine
Monks from Monopoli during Norman, Swabian and Angioina domination
(1086-1358) who ruled, then it passed over to the Cavaliers
of Rhodes and Malta, who kept it until the end of feudal rights
as decreed by Giuseppe Bonaparte (1806).
The long Cavalier domination, could not, in the end, have
been very welcomed by the citizens of Putignano, as they participated
in all the revolutionary manifestations beginning in 1799
until unification to the Reign of Italy (1861).
Economical wealth arrived at the beginning of the XX Century
with the start of an industrial process based on the birth
of hats, coats, umbrellas and clothing factories, as well
as the construction of a railway which linked Bari to Putignano.
One can visit the Carmelite Convent in the City, built at
the end of the XVII Century on the ruins of Federick the Great’s
Castle (XIII Century) and the Matrix Church dedicated to S.
Peter, built in 1158 and re-adjusted numerous times over the
centuries.
In the same square where the Matrix Church is situated, one
can also find Palazzo del Bali’, for centuries the seat
of government of the Cavaliers of Malta.
Just outside the City, one can visit the Putignano Grotto,
lined with pinkish alabaster and the San Michele Crypt, once
dedicated to Apollo and the Marchione Castle (1730).
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