Nepedia
Back to Discover
Fluent Reader
🗺️

Bari

geography Maturity 11-13 Next article →

Bari is a large and busy city in southern Italy. It sits right on the edge of the Adriatic Sea. This city is the capital of the Apulia region. It is also a very important place for business in southern Italy. People visit Bari because it is a major port for ships. It is also a famous city for students at its university.

XIX century print, Il porto di Bari
XIX century print, Il porto di Bari

The city is made of four different urban sections. To the north, you will find the old town. This part sits on a peninsula between two modern harbours. You can see the Basilica of Saint Nicholas there. You can also visit the Cathedral of San Sabino and the Norman-Swabian Castle. To the south is the Murat quarter. This area was built by Joachim Murat. It has a rectangular grid plan and a long walk by the sea.

Municipalities of Bari with numbers
Municipalities of Bari with numbers

Bari has a very long history that goes back to ancient times. It was once known as Barium. Some old writers say this name means "house" in the Messapic language. The city was part of the Roman Republic in the 3rd century BC. Later, many different groups ruled the city. The Byzantine Empire and the Lombards both held power here. During the Middle Ages, Bari was a major centre for trade. It was even the centre of an emirate for twenty years.

Bari Central Station
Bari Central Station

Many people live in this part of Italy. About 315,473 people live in the city of Bari itself. The wider urban area has about 750,000 people. If you look at the whole metropolitan province, there are 1.2 million inhabitants. The climate is Mediterranean. This means the summers are hot and dry. The winters stay mild and pleasant.

Stadiosannicola2023
Stadiosannicola2023

Bari has faced some very hard times in the past. During World War II, German bombers attacked the city in 1943. An American ship called the SS John Harvey was destroyed. This ship was carrying mustard gas bombs. The gas caused many injuries and deaths. A doctor named Stewart F. Alexander helped treat the victims. His work with these samples helped create an early form of medicine called chemotherapy. The city also faced another explosion in the harbour in 1945.

SS John Harvey on fire 12-2-1943, Italian port of Bari
SS John Harvey on fire 12-2-1943, Italian port of Bari
363 words

Where will your curiosity go next?

Keep exploring at your chosen reading level.

🖼️ Images & Media (6)
File:XIX century print, Il porto di Bari.jpg
XIX century print, Il porto di Bari.jpg
File:SS John Harvey on fire 12-2-1943, Italian port of Bari.JPG
SS John Harvey on fire 12-2-1943, Italian...
File:Municipalities of Bari with numbers.svg
Municipalities of Bari with numbers.svg
File:Orecchiette al Pomodoro.jpg
Orecchiette al Pomodoro.jpg
File:Stadiosannicola2023.jpg
Stadiosannicola2023.jpg
File:Bari Central Station.jpg
Bari Central Station.jpg
More to explore

✨ What else?

Related topics you might enjoy

🔬 Go deeper

More advanced topics to explore

🪜 Step back

Simpler topics to build understanding

What is Nepedia?

A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.