Manfredonia

The town of Manfredonia in Gargano extends between the steep hills of the southern promontory and the homonymous Gulf overlooking the Adriatic Sea.

It represents one of the main tourist destinations of Gargano, thanks to its many facilities: in addition to 20 km of Adriatic coast, Manfredonia is also famous for its harbour, facing the wonderful Gulf.

Tourist resorts and campsites are an ideal destination for those who enjoy being in close contact with nature.

In the city centre you can actually feel the air-breathing sea…

Burgs, gothic arches and stone houses make the landscape exceptionally spectacular.

Historical Notes

Manfredonia owes its name to the King of Sicily, Manfredi. He founded it in the thirteenth century to accommodate the inhabitants of the city of Siponto, which had been previously destroyed by the earthquake and the incursions of the Saracens. King Manfredi built a castle in this area in 1256. It was restored later in the sixteenth century and, in its current shape, it hosts the National Museum of Gargano.

Manfredi’s project for the construction of the new city was determined on the one hand by the growing needs due to the economic expansion of  high Apulia, and on the one other by the will of defending the territory from the expansionist ambitions of Slavs and Arabs. After Manfredi was murdered in Benevento, the Angevins refused to fulfil his will and his original project remained unexecuted.

A long sequel of violent episodes marks the history of Manfredonia and its progenitor Siponto, which has been a battle field for many populations such as Goths, Byzantines, Lombards, Saracens, Normans, Angevins, Hungarians, Durazzeschi, Aragonesi, Spanish and French. Many barons and counts, mostly foreigners, alternated in the domination of the castle.

On 16th August 1620 a bloody agony of three days began for the city. The Turks, landing from the sea, pillaged and burn churches, homes, buildings, archives, taking away all goods. The city, which counted about 3,500 inhabitants at the end of the 16th century, saw its population halved by the second half of the 17th century.

Thanks to the work of Archbishop Orsini, who then became Pope Benedict XIII, the city witnessed its own rebirth: the cathedral was rebuilt on the fundaments of the original Angevin dome, and dedicated to the cult of St. Lorenzo Maiorano, Bishop of Siponto.

The bell-tower, the churches with the adjoining convents of St. Benedict, S. Francesco, S. Chiara, S. Maria delle Grazie, were also rebuilt in that period.