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FOGGIA
97km
(60 miles) W of Bari, 174km (108
miles) NE of Naples, 362km (224
miles) SE of Rome.
Foggia is a pleasant, modern city with wide boulevards and
good hotels and restaurants.
Unlike the other cities of Italy,
it does not have much in the way
of art or sculpture and few
historic buildings, other than an
ancient cathedral. It is the
capital of Apulia’s northernmost
province, Capitanata. The only
history Foggia has is one of
disaster, an earthquake almost
flattened it in 1731 and it was
heavily bombed during the Second
World War. For the tourist, it is
a good place to use as a base from
which to carry out the more
practical side of your holiday –
exchange money, send letters and
postcards etc… and also to visit
the nearby attractions such as
Lucera and Troia. The city is
relatively safe, easy to get
around, and centrally located.
The 12th-century Cattedrale della Santa Maria Icona Vetere
(tel. 0881-773482) lies off
Piazza del Lago. It is the
province's largest cathedral, and
was constructed in a strange
Norman and Apulian elaborate
style. At present, after
widespread repairs and expansions,
the Duomo is a diverse mix of
styles. The campanile
(bell tower) now
standing was built to
replace the one destroyed in the
1731 earthquake. The burial
chamber was built in the
Romanesque style, and some of its
"excavation" was because
of Allied bombers in 1943. The
cathedral is open daily from 8am
to noon and from 5pm to 8pm;
admission is free.
The other prominent attraction is the Civic Museum (Museo
Civico), Piazza Nigri (tel. 0881-726245),
it features exhibits on Apulia's
archaeology and ethnography. It is
housed in the remains of the
residence of Frederick II and is
open daily from 9am to 1pm, and
also on Mondays, Tuesdays,
Thursdays, and Fridays from 5pm to
7pm. Admission is 2€ ($1.80).
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