Canosa di Puglia
Canosa di Puglia, generally known simply as Canosa, is a town and comune in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, Apulia, southern Italy. It is located between Bari and Foggia, on the northwestern edge of the plateau of the Murgia which dominates the Ofanto valley and the extensive plains of Tavoliere delle Puglie, ranging from Mount Vulture at the Gargano, to the Adriatic coast. Canosa, the Roman Canusium, is considered the principal archaeological center of Apulia, and is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in Italy. A number of vases and other archaeological finds are located in local museums and private collections. It is not far from the position on the Ofanto River where the Romans found refuge after the defeat of the Battle of Cannae and is the burial place of Bohemund I of Antioch.
Name
Canosa is the Italian development of the Latin Canusium, derived from the Greek Kanýsion, whose origin is uncertain. According to the Latin commentator Servius, Canusium derived from canis, an animal associated with the local worship of Aphrodite. Other derivations include from Greek kháneon, from the abundant wicker growing along the Ofanto; the Hebrew chanuth ; and the Etruscan name Canzna.Geography
Territory
Canosa sits on the right bank of the Ofanto river and is nearly from the Adriatic Sea. The town sits upon the Murgia plateau, between above sea level. The city is built on a mostly sandy or clay surface that covers a limestone layer which in turn constitutes the typical white-yellowish tuff and is easily collapsible.This morphological feature allowed the underground construction of artificial grottoes, and the creation of a Hypogeum. The tuff derived from the excavations has gone towards the construction of buildings on the surface. There are risks of subsidence due to the presence of caves and underground channels typical of karst environments. The buildings of the town of Canosa are considered high risk for collapse. In recent years there have been many building failures and disruptions of roads. The area extends south to the slopes of the Murgia, and is mostly flat. The basins of Rendina and Locone contribute to the large area.
Climate
Canosa has a typical temperate climate, mild spring and autumn, and cold winters and mild summers.The monthly average temperature is strongly influenced by the Murgiano Range from in January, to in August. The average annual rainfall is of rainfall, distributed mainly in the period from September to April. Climate classification of Canosa is Climate zone C.
History
Prehistory
The ancient Greeks and Romans ascribed the foundation of Canusion or Canusium to the Homeric hero Diomedes, but archeologists have established human presence in the area back to the 7th millennium BC. The Diomedea fields were one of the main centers of the Dauni, a northern branch of the Iapyges, during the Neolithic. Toppicelli on the Ofantina plain has revealed buildings and tombs of a rich aristocracy that also seem related to this group.Excavations have also discovered metal and amber designs which appear Etruscan.
Antiquity
Canusion became an important commercial center for craftsman, especially of ceramics and pottery. Probably settled by the Pelasgians, it became a Greek polis by the time of the development of Magna Grecia. This Hellenistic city—located at the site of the present urban core—first appears in the historical record as an ally of the Samnites in their wars against Rome but was either subdued or voluntarily switched sides in, after which it served as a Roman ally. Following Hannibal's victory over the consuls Paullus and Varro at nearby Cannae, Canosa protected the fleeing remnants of the Roman army within its walls. In the second year of the Social War, it joined the rebels and successfully resisted a Roman siege. During that conflict or the civil wars that followed, it seems to have suffered greatly and been much reduced in size, although it improved its status to a self-governing municipality in and protected those privileges throughout the conflicts. A list of its local senators has been recovered from the ruins.The town was a center for agricultural production and trade, particularly in Apulian wool. Horace's Satires complain of the area's gritty bread and bad water but note that the people were still fluent in both Latin and Greek. Its coins continued to bear Greek inscriptions through the Roman period. The Via Traiana reached the town in and the ruins of a large gateway still honor that emperor. The city also boasted a very large amphitheater. It became a Roman colony under Marcus Aurelius. Herodes Atticus oversaw the process and constructed an aqueduct, completed in 141. Antoninus Pius made it the capital of the Province of Apulia and Calabria. Towards the end of the 3rd century it became the capital of Apulia and Calabria II Royal.
Middle Ages
The city continued to flourish into the early medieval period, when it became known as the "city of bishops". Some of its bishops are known from the 4th century. Bishop Stercorius took part in the 343 Council of Sardica, and Bishop Probus intervened decisively against a Spanish bishop who wanted to name his own successor in a council convoked at Rome by Pope Hilarius in 465. The diocese reached its apogee under St Sabinus, who subsequently was honored as the town's patron saint.The area suffered severely at the hands of the Lombards during the invasion that established the Duchy of Benevento and the Muslim invasions which followed. In the early 9th century, Muslims entirely destroyed the town and, in 844, Bishop Angelarius translated the relics of Rufinus, Memorus, and Sabinus to Bari. Soon after, Pope Sergius II confirmed him as the bishop of Bari and Canosa, a united title borne by Bari's archbishops until 1986.
In 963, Canosa was rebuilt at a site below the former Roman city. It remained a Lombard gastaldate until the Norman conquest that established the Kingdom of Sicily. Under Bohemund I of Antioch, son of Robert Guiscard, it regained some of its earlier importance. The 5-domed cathedral of St Sabinus was completed in 1101. Bohemund's tomb is located just to its south. Following the extirpation of the Hohenstaufens, however, it again went into decline.
Modernity
The ruins and settlement of Canosa were repeatedly damaged by earthquakes, particularly those in 1361, 1456, 1627, 1659, 1694, and 1851. The town was also repeatedly sacked, notably by the Tarantini in 1451 and by Napoleon in 1803. As a fief, it was controlled by the Casati, the Orsini of, the Grimaldi of Monaco, the Gemmis family of Castelfoce, the Affaitati of Barletta, and the Capece Minutolo of Naples. Tiberio Capece was named "prince of Canosa" in 1712.After the Italian Wars of Independence and the disastrous earthquake in 1851, Canosa remained predominantly bourgeois town as demonstrated by the construction of palaces. Virtually unscathed by World War I, the town suffered the effects of the 1930 Irpinia earthquake, which caused enormous damage.
On 6 November 1943, during World War II, the area was bombed by the Allies shortly after the armistice of 8 September. Some buildings were damaged, including the churches of San Francesco and San Biagio and the Town Hall, and 57 people lost their lives. In April 2001 the City of Canosa was awarded the bronze medal for Civil Valor in remembrance of the tragedy. On 17 September 1962, by decree of the President, Canosa was awarded the title of City for its historical traditions and the merits acquired by the community. In 1980 Canosa was again damaged by an earthquake.
Currently the economy of Canosa is based mainly on agriculture, with a service sector and industry and handicrafts, including textiles, food processing and manufacturing.
Main sights
Religious architecture
Cathedral of San Sabino
The Cathedral of San Sabino was founded in the 8th century by the Lombards Duke Arechis II of Benevento, after the abandonment of early Christian sites in San Leucio and St. Peter. Originally dedicated to Saints John and Paul, was named after Saint Sabinus of Canosa on 7 September 1101, by Pope Paschal II, some four hundred years after the transfer of the saint's remains in the crypt. It was recognized as a cathedral in 1916 by Pope Benedict XV.The plan of the basilica is a Latin cross, covered by five domes and an apse lit by three windows, whose central body is covered with a stained-glass window depicting the patron saint. It is an example of Romanesque/Byzantine architecture. Below the chancel are the crypt, shrine of the saint. The arches are supported by marble columns with Corinthian capitals, which were retrieved from devastated ancient monuments. The cathedral lies three feet below the square.
After the earthquake of 1851, the cathedral was damaged and the restoration work led to an expansion of the Latin cross, as well as the reconstruction of the facade in local tuff with three portals, each corresponding to the aisles.
The chapels contain in order: a baptismal font, a fresco, an altar dedicated to Our Lady of the Fountain whose icon came after the First Crusade, in the adjacent Mausoleum of Bohemond, the wooden statue and a painting of Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, and the tomb of Blessed Father Antonio Maria Losito.
The left aisle houses the tomb of the Bishop of Lecce Archbishop Francesco Minerva following three chapels: one containing the relics, chalices, crucifixes, and a silver bust of the saint enclosed by an iron grating, and the other dedicated to Saint Anthony, the third devoted to Saint Anne. On the left arm of a Latin cross are two other chapels that of the St. Sacramento containing the statue of the Sacred Heart and the other of Saint Joseph.
The presbytery has a high altar with ciborium, set on a marble base with three steps, surmounted by a canopy supported by four red marble columns with Corinthian capitals, octagonal pyramid in two sections held up a total of 48 columns of the same marble, very similar to that in the Basilica of San Nicola di Bari.