Venice and Bari
Fragments
of a parallel history
[Doge Pietro Orseolo II saves Bari from the siege of the Saracens (...)
Francesco Zanotto, History of Venice, 1856 - the Doge’s Palace, Venice]
On Ascension Day, recalling the relations between the Republic of Venice and the Land of Bari, through the establishment of the Venetian Consulate in Apulia, means recalling to mind fragments of the history and civilization of two regions of the Byzantine Empire in the early Middle Ages.
The Apulia region had a considerable influence on Venice’s political and commercial schemes because of its strategic position at the entrance to the Adriatic, a compulsory route for all seagoing traffic and continuously threatened by hostile populations. Venice and Bari, united by the same sea, have consequently had their history interwoven over the centuries, ever since the early times when they acted as the front-line defenders of Byzantium to the West, and subsequently in the continuing and growing commitment of their populations to trading between East and West.
The links were strong in the religious field too, from the legendary thefts by their fearless mariners of the bodies of St. Mark from Alexandria of Egypt, elected patron saint of Venice, and of San Nicola in Bari. They also have in common a cult for the Byzantine madonnas Nicopeia in Venice and Odegitria in Bari.
Relations were intensive in the artistic field too, starting from the transport on Venetian boats of the Istrian stone used for the construction of the castles and basilicas in the Land of Bari. Churches in Apulia still preserve paintings on their altars by great Venetian masters and the Treasure of San Nicola, despite the robberies of Napoleon’s time, still contains precious curios made by Venetian goldsmiths, the gift of ambassadors from the Venetian Republic.
It is significant to consider that, during the first Venetian Seigniory in Apulia in 1503, there was the famous Barletta Challenge between 13 Italian and 13 French cavalrymen; and the task of acting as referee and preparing the field for the unique contest was entrusted to the Venetians; the Italian Ettore Fieramosca and his cavalrymen emerged as the winners.
It is also worth mentioning that there were troops from Apulia under the Spanish flag at the great naval battle of Lepanto in 1571, fought by Venice against the Turks, and the two cities also fought side by side in the ancient crusades in the Holy Land.
We can conclude by mentioning the Mayor of Bari, Filippo Grimani, whose public notice dated October 31st 1906 addressed to the Venetians a noble message which read "The city of Bari, in memory of the help it received from the Venetians under the command of Doge Pietro Orseolo II against the Saracen invasion, and to demonstrate how the course of time and the passage of the generations cannot diminish Bari’s strong liking for the City of the Venetian Lagoon, on May 27th of this year has entitled to Venice the historical route around the city walls", and there is a memorial stone dedicated to Venice in the Orseolo Basin, commemorating the Venetian Doge Orseolo, whose enterprises led to Venice’s dominion over the Adriatic.
[Adm. Sabino Roppo]
