What to see · Monopoli

More places of interest

• Chiesa di Cristo delle zolle

  The church of Cristo delle Zolle is a large seventeenth-century church in open country, about two kilometres from the centre of Monopoli, on the plain between the sea and the Murge plateau. According to Giuseppe Indelli's eighteenth-century Istoria di Monopoli, a rock church already stood here in the sixteenth century, Sant'Angelo «del Pagliarolo», set in a cave and abandoned.

  What to see

  In 1651 a crucifix believed to be miraculous was found here, and a church dedicated to the Crucifix of Pagliarolo was built in a severe late Renaissance style; a market was also established, held from 2 to 4 May. The pastoral visit of Bishop Della Gatta, in 1727, describes it with a dome resting on four arches and altars along the walls; the feast day was 3 May. Beneath the apse lies the crypt of Sant'Angelo del Pagliarolo.

  Until the mid-twentieth century Mass was still said here every week; then it was abandoned, overgrown with plants even on the roof and flooded from time to time by a nearby stream, while the dome began to give way. In 2004 and 2005 the owner, Francesco Pertosa, made it safe at his own expense, and in 2009 the municipality, with funds from the Apulia Region and a design by the architect Domenico Capitanio, completed the restoration and turned it into a theatre space: beneath the dome is a hydraulic stage set into the floor, and outside the façade serves as a backdrop, with the audience seated in a semicircle as in a Roman theatre.

  Visiting

  The church has not hosted any performances for years: whether it can be visited should be checked beforehand with the municipality.

  Our editors' tip

  The eighteenth-century organ that once stood in this church is now in the church of San Francesco d'Assisi, inside the walls of Monopoli.

• Cinta muraria Monopoli

  The walls of Monopoli enclose the old town, on the peninsula between the cove of Porta Vecchia and that of the Porto Antico. According to the sources the town grew out of a powerful Messapian fortress on the border of Peucetia, and important stretches of the fifth-century BC fortifications survive along via dei Mulini, inside the Santa Maria bastion, beneath the castle and near the bishop's palace.

  What to see

  In the Middle Ages the town, loyal to Frederick II during his minority, suffered many attacks by rebel barons without ever being taken; the walls were badly damaged, and Frederick II, out of gratitude, rebuilt and enlarged them. The sources record that the Turkish fleets never attacked Monopoli directly, probably because of its well-garrisoned fortifications, and that in 1529 the town, helped by Venetian soldiers, held out for three months against the siege of the Spanish imperial troops of the Marquis del Vasto, Alfonso III d'Avalos, who had to withdraw.

  The castle of Charles V, at the north-east corner, is the linchpin of the system. South of the castle, as far as the cathedral, stretches of wall can be seen, largely restored, with the bastions of Santa Maria, Pappacenere and the Cathedral. On the west side, beneath piazza XX Settembre, work in 2013 and 2014 uncovered the great bastion of San Domenico and the stretch of wall joined to it.

  Visiting

  The restored stretches can be seen while walking through the old town, between the castle and the cathedral. For any guided tours it is best to ask the municipality.

  Our editors' tip

  In 1795 the Neapolitan authorities approved the plan of the architect De Simone, which provided for demolishing the walls and a new grid-plan town; the year before, the engineer Francesco Sorino had instead proposed keeping them, with a radial expansion around a large round square, but his plan was rejected.

• Castello di Carlo V

  The castle of Charles V is the sixteenth-century fort built by the sea during Spanish rule, guarding the entrance to the old harbour, at the north-east corner of the walls of Monopoli. Commissioned by Emperor Charles V as part of the system of Apulian coastal defences, it was completed in 1552: beneath the loggia, the stone coat of arms bears this date and the name of the viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo.

  What to see

  The castle stands on the small headland of Punta Pinna and incorporates a tenth-century church, San Nicola in Pinna, and a large Roman gate of the first century BC, with two two-storey guardhouses and two octagonal towers, itself built on the Messapian walls of the fifth century BC: this was established by the heritage authority's excavations between the nineties and 2010. In 1600 it was enlarged and turned from a fortress into a residence. The plan is simple, with pentagonal bastions at its five corners and a cylindrical tower to the south-west, where the drawbridge must have been; the gun ports go down to the waterline, and in the great armoury four of them, two facing the open sea and two the harbour, are served by smooth-bore Neapolitan howitzers from the first half of the nineteenth century.

  In the underground rooms is the church of San Nicola in Pinna, founded at the end of the tenth century, perhaps by a local man, Sassone, son of Kiroleone, who had decided to become a monk after being widowed: it has a single nave, one apse and a central dome. In 1054 the monastery, already wealthy, had its privileges confirmed by Argyrus, son of Melus of Bari; the last mention is in a bull of Pope Boniface IX of 1393. In the first half of the nineteenth century the castle became a district prison, and remained one until 1969.

  Visiting

  After the strengthening work of the nineties and the restoration completed in 2011 by the architect Domenico Capitanio, the castle hosts exhibitions and cultural events. Opening times and tickets should be checked with the municipality.

  Our editors' tip

  Around 1750 the castle was home to Martino Coquemont, a colonel in the armies of Ferdinand IV of Naples, who died in 1773 at the age of one hundred and one.

• Monastero-fortezza di Santo Stefano

  The castle of Santo Stefano, also called the abbey of Santo Stefano, is a fortification by the sea outside the town of Monopoli, along the coast south of the centre, and throughout the Middle Ages it was an essential part of the defensive system of the Monopoli coast. It stands on a small peninsula between two inlets that form two natural harbours, today the beaches of Santo Stefano and Ghiacciolo.

  What to see

  In late Roman times the area was known as the «Rocca» or Turris Paola: remains of opus reticulatum in the abbey's cellars point to a castrum, an Adriatic trading post or at least a satellite harbour of nearby Egnatia. The monastery was founded in 1086 by Geoffrey, Count of Conversano, and was home to the Benedictines, who named the stronghold after the relics of Saint Stephen; on 26 December 1365 the relics were taken to Putignano to protect them from repeated raids by Turks and pirates. A well of groundwater supplied the complex.

  In 1435 the Knights of Malta, who already had a house used as a hospital in the town, established the Bailiwick of Santo Stefano di Monopoli here and refortified the old stronghold: they dug a moat that can still be seen and made both coves at its sides usable for mooring. With north-easterly winds the abbey became an obligatory stop for those sailing from Bari towards Brindisi, and the two coves made it possible to repair several ships at once and supply them for the voyage to the Holy Land.

  Visiting

  The castle belongs to the de Bellis family, descendants of Saverio de Bellis: it can be seen from outside, and whether it can be visited should be checked beforehand.

  Our editors' tip

  Next to the castle is the small lake of Santo Stefano, an artificial saltwater pond surrounded by Mediterranean scrub and connected to the sea by a tunnel cut into the rock; it too is on private land.

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