Gravina in Puglia - Ponte Acquedotto Viadotto della Madonna della Stella

Gravina was populated already in Stone Age times, it was colonized by the Greeks during the colonization of Greater Greece. The Romans took over around 300 BC and the Via Appia, which linked Rome to Brindisi, passed through Gravina. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was ruled by Goths, Byzantines, Lombards and Saracens. The Normans arrived around 1000. The town was the site of a Norman countship in the Hauteville Kingdom of Sicily and in 1091 the construction of the Norman cathedral started.

Emperor Frederick II had a castle built nearby, that is meanwhile in ruins. From 1386 to 1816 (!) it was a fief of the Orsini family. Feudal oppression led to numerous riots, in particular from 1789 until the unification of Italy in 1861.


The "Ponte Acquedotto Viadotto della Madonna della Stella" is a viaduct and an aqueduct. The structure, bridging over the Botromago gorge, is 37 meters high and about 90 metres long. It was erected end of the 17th century and rebuilt after the earthquake of 1722. It connects Gravina with the rock church "Maria dell Stella", a place of pilgrimage over centuries.