Barletta - Basilica del Santo Sepolcro

The Phoenicians, the Greeks and the Romans have been here. In 216 BC, during the second Punic war, the Battle of Canne was fought nearby which led to the heavy defeat of the Romans by Hannibal's army. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the area was taken over by the Normans, who built a fortress here. During the time of the Crusades, Barletta became an important gathering point for the armies of knights. The city had its heyday under Frederick II, who in 1228 announced the sixth crusade during the Diet held here. Following the Muslim conquest in the Holy Land, the Archbishops of Nazareth took permanent refuge in Barletta in 1327.

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The basilica was erected at the end of the 12th century, probably on a pre-existing building and then rebuilt in the second half of the 13th century, the Angevin period. It was part of a network of churches, hospitals and hostels spread through Barletta. They were all designed to receive numerous crusaders and pilgrims. The church and the adjoining hospitium was administered by the canons and the knights of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem up to the 15th century when it was taken over by the Knights of Malta, who kept it until the order was suppressed in 1808. Seen here the basilica´s three apses.