Brindisi - Main Sights

Main Sights

• The Castello Svevo or Castello Grande ("Hohenstaufen Castle" or "Large Castle"), built by Emperor Frederick II. It has a trapezoid plan with massive square towers. Under the Crown of Aragon four towers were added to the original 13th century structure. After centuries of being abandoned, in 1813 Joachim Murat turned it into a prison; after 1909 it was used by the Italian Navy. During World War II it was briefly the residence of King Victor Emmanuel III.
• The Catalan-Aragonese Castle, best known as Forte a Mare ("Sea Fort"). It was built by King Ferdinand I of Naples in 1491 on the S. Andrea island facing the port. It is divided into two sections: the "Red Castle" (from the color of its bricks) and the more recent Fort.
• Two ancient Roman columns, symbols of Brindisi. They were once thought to mark the ending points of the Appian Way, instead they were used as a port reference for the antique mariners. Only one of the two, standing at 18.74m, is now visible. The other crumbled in 1582, and the ruins was given to Lecce to hold the statue of Saint Oronzo (Lecce's patron), because Saint Oronzo was reputed to have cured the plague in Brindisi.
• the Duomo (Cathedral), built in Romanesque style in the 11th-12th centuries. What is visible today is the 18th century reconstruction, after the original was destroyed by an earthquake on February 20, 1743. Parts of the original mosaic pavement can be seen in the interior.
• Church of Santa Maria del Casale (late 13th century), in Gothic-Romanesque style. The façade has a geometrical pattern of gray and yellow stones, with an entrance cusp-covered portico. The interior has early-14th century frescoes including, in the counter-façade, a Last Judgement in four sections, by Rinaldo da Taranto. They are in late-Byzantine style.
• Church of San Benedetto, in Romanesque style. Perhaps built before the 11th century as part of a Benedictine nunnery, it has a massive bell tower with triple-mullioned windows and Lombard bands. A side portal is decorated with 11th century motifs, while the interior has a nave covered by cross vaults, while the aisles, separated by columns with Romanesque capitals, have half-barrel vaults. The cloister (11th century) has decorated capitals.
• Portico of the Templars (13th century). Despite the name, it was in reality the loggia of the bishop's palace. It is now the entrance to the Museo Ribezzo.
• the Fontana Grande (Grand Fountain), built by the Romans on the Appian Way. It was restored in 1192 by Tancred of Lecce.
• Piazza della Vittoria (Victory Square). It has a 17th-century fountain.
• Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli (1609).
• Church of the Sacred Heart.
• Church of San Giovanni al Sepolcro, with circular plan, dating from the 12th century.
• Church of the Santissima Trinità (or Santa Lucia, 14th century). It has a late 12th century crypt.
• the Monument to Italian Sailors