>Medieval Brindisi gained considerable wealth as a center for the manufacturing of Proto-Maiolica pottery. But the main element in the city’s prosperity and importance remained its port. It was from Brindisi that the Normans assembled their expeditions in their attacks on the Byzantine Empire. It was also here that many of the Crusaders embarked on the voyages to the Holy Land.
>The economic prosperity under the Normans and Swabian rulers declined under the subsequent Angevins and Aragonese. Even so, Brindisi’s strategic importance was recognized enough that the local fortifications were strengthened. The Aragonese also built a port canal as part of the defenses against a possible Turkish attack.
>Some of the city’s former prosperity returned for a time during the 19th century. When the Suez Canal was opened in 1869, European travelers found Brindisi ideally placed as a point of departure for points east.
>In the early part of the 19th century, during World War I, Brindisi became the site of an Italian naval base.
>Points of Interest>:
>Colonna Romana>: Dating from the 1st century AD, it was one of two columns raised by the Romans to mark the terminus of the Via Appia. The base of the other column can also still be seen, although the column itself (which fell in 1528) now serves as the support for a statue of S. Onofrio in Lecce. The surviving column stands about 19 m. in height. The base is made from Attic marble while the column shaft has been made a gray, eastern marble. The capital is decorated with 12 carvings depicting mythological figures: Jupiter, Neptune, Minerva (or Juno), Mars (or Amphitrite), and eight Tritons.
>Roman villa>: Located near the Colonna Romana, it is one of the few surviving ancient buildings in Brindisi. Local tradition claims the building as the site of Virgil’s death in 19 BC.
>Ancient remains>: The modern city of Brindisi sits on the same location as ancient Brundisium, making archaeological excavation difficult. Thus, relatively little of the ancient city has been unearthed or identified. Some ancient remains have been studied below the Piazza Duomo and the church of S. Giovanni al Sepolcro. Some remains situated on the Via Colombo have been identified as a large Roman reservoir dating from the reign of Trajan (AD 97-117). Other remains include those of an aqueduct from the reign of Claudius (AD 41-54), baths, a porticoed crypt with an arched vault, and a forum.
>Monuments from the medieval and later periods are more abundant. The Castle, with its rectangular towers, was built in 1227 during the time of Frederick II. In 1481, the Aragonese reinforced the structure with a barbican and four cylindrical towers.
>The Loggia Balsamo (or Palazzetto Balsamo) is a survival of a 13th / 14th century Angevin palace.
>Duomo>: Founded in the 12th century, little remains of the original structure except for the pavements mosaics in the apse. Most of the structure dates to the 18th century.
>The Romanesque church of S. Lucia (or SS. Trinità) dates from the 11th century. Only the crypt, decorated with 12th century Byzantine frescoes, survives from the original structure. Other parts of the church are decorated with frescoes from the 13th and 14th centuries.
>The church of S. Benedetto was founded in 1080 as an Apulian-Romanesque structure. Only the campanile and the cloister of the ex-monastery has survived from the original complex. Most of the rest dates from the 16th century or later.
>The church of the Cristo has a single nave and a notable banded façade. Among its treasures are a fine Crucifix and a painted 13th century wooden sculpture of the “Madonna Enthroned.”
>The 14th century church of S. Paolo has a baroque façade.
>The baroque church of S. Teresa dates to 1670.
>The circular church of S. Giovanni al Sepolcro was constructed during the 11th century by the famous Knights Templar. After the fall of that order it came into the possession of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher. The structure has a portal flanked by a pair of Romanesque lions. The interior has a circular colonnade of eight columns. The walls still show remnants of 14th century frescos.