What to see · Trani

More places of interest

• Ipogeo di Santa Geffa

  The hypogeum of Santa Geffa, or rock church of Santa Geffa, is an early Christian architectural structure of uncertain date, in the territory of Trani, about three kilometres from the town. Since 1998 the site has been part of an archaeological park of the same name run by a social cooperative.

  What to see

  It is a hypogeum carved into the tuff of the ground, divided into three naves with apses; the vault of the central apse is almost entirely missing, because of a collapse in the past. The plan is a Greek cross, marked by six cruciform pillars. It is preceded by a modest necropolis, with empty tombs.

  Scholars date it alternatively to the third, fourth, seventh or eleventh century. The origin of the name is also uncertain, since there is no trace of a saint named Geffa: a dedication to Saint Peter, who in Aramaic is Kefa, whence «Geffa», has been suggested, for his supposed passing through the area on his journey to Rome; alternatively the reference would be to Saint Genevieve.

  Visiting

  The hypogeum is about three kilometres from the town of Trani, in the Santa Geffa Archaeological Park, run by a social cooperative. The sources consulted give no opening hours or visiting arrangements: check them with the Park.

  Our editors' tip

  The Comune of Trani publishes on its website a page on the Santa Geffa Archaeological Park, where to look for up-to-date visiting information.

• Castello svevo

  The Swabian Castle of Trani was built in 1233 during the reign of Frederick II of Swabia and is one of the most important and best readable of the Frederician castles, despite some transformations that have partly changed its original layout. It stands on a rocky shoal in the middle of the Trani roadstead, in shallow water that protected it from attack from the sea, facing the Cathedral.

  What to see

  The plan is centred on the castle proper, a square about forty-eight metres a side, with four square corner towers: the two facing the sea, the smaller ones, keep their original height of about thirty metres, while the two larger ones facing land were lowered in the sixteenth century. The outer walls are of large blocks of Trani stone with strongly projecting bosses, crowned by a flat crenellation with arrow slits; a fortified wall, the antemurale, encircles the whole castle and forms three small outer courtyards, and is surrounded by a moat about twenty metres wide, linked to the sea. Two bastions, one spearhead-shaped to the south-west and one square to the north-east, were added in the sixteenth century for grazing-fire defence. On the ground floor of the north-east bastion is the Castle Museum, with the stone and ceramic finds discovered in the digs during the restorations.

  On the same site stood a tower of the tenth to eleventh century, whose remains were found under the floor of the eastern entrance passage; an older castle, built by the Norman king Roger II, was destroyed in 1137. The present one was begun in 1233 by order of Frederick II and the works were completed in 1249 to a design by Filippo Cinardo, count of Acquaviva and Conversano, grand constable and military engineer of the emperor. Manfred often stayed here and on 2 June 1259 married Helena Komnene here with great pomp; after Manfred's defeat at Benevento the queen was captured by the Angevins with her children and imprisoned in this same castle. Under the Angevins it was an important administrative centre and a lively court seat: in 1268 the wedding of Charles I of Anjou and Margaret of Burgundy was held here, and from 1268 until her death, in March 1279, the countess of Caserta Siffridina, Frederick II's in-law, who had favoured Conradin of Swabia, was imprisoned here. The legend of Armida, the castle's ghost, seems modelled on her, because there is no document about a lady of that name. From 1533, under Charles V, the castle was adapted to withstand firearms; later made a central provincial prison, it served as such until 1974, and since 1979 it has been restored: it has been open to the public since 5 June 1998.

  Visiting

  The castle is in Trani, on the sea, facing the Cathedral. The sources consulted give no opening hours or fees: check them.

  Our editors' tip

  The castle keeps a model in wood, cork and plaster, made around the middle of the eighteenth century by Giovanni Carafa, Duke of Noja, which documents how the castle looked before the nineteenth-century works.

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