Welcome to Bari!

Bari is an Italian city with 320,160 inhabitants, capital of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region (‘Puglia’ in Italian). It is located on the south-east coast, on the Adriatic Sea. It is known for being the city where the relics of St. Nicholas lie. That privilege has made Bari and the splendid Basilica dedicated to the Patron Saint one of the greatest centres of orthodoxy favoured in Italy. The city is situated in a heavily urbanized area, which is one of the most important and populous in Italy. Bari is soon going to become one of the 15 metropolitan cities in Italy; in fact there is a ‘strategic plan’ which aims at realizing the first part of this project by 2015. It is also a major terminus for trade with the East and its port is the largest passenger port in the Adriatic Sea. The city has a strong maritime tradition and has always been the central point in the commercial, political and cultural contacts with Eastern Europe, consolidated thanks to the famous Festival of St. Nicholas, which takes place on 7th-8th-9th May. An important trade fair, the ‘Fiera del Levante’, takes place in Bari every year, in September. It involves exhibitions from many sectors and industries and attracts many exhibitors from Italy and other countries, especially Mediterranean. There is also a "Fair of Nations" which displays handcrafted and locally produced goods from all over the world.
Bari is home to a University of Studies and a ‘Politecnico’. The city boasts a unique historic centre (the so-called ‘Barivecchia’, which means ‘old Bari’), with narrow and winding streets, where you find the most important medieval monuments (the Basilica of St. Nicholas, the Cathedral of St. Sabinus, the Swabian Castle). The modern city centre is instead the grid-shaped Murat district, which is probably the largest shopping area in Italy and contains a large number of high street stores and smaller shops.

Written by: Margherita, Alessia, Caterina, Rosemary, Stefania from Italy