Bari#The 1943 chemical warfare disaster

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Bari itself known in antiquity as Barium, was a harbour of the Iapygian Peuceti.{{cite book |title=The Oxford Classical Dictionary |year=2012 |editor-first1=Simon |editor-last1=Hornblower |editor-first2=Antony |editor-last2=Spawforth |editor-first3=Esther |editor-last3=Eidinow |isbn=978-0-19-954556-8 |edition=4th |location=Oxford |oclc=959667246 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bVWcAQAAQBAJ |page=224}}{{cite thesis|last=Andriani|first=Luigi|year=2017|title=The syntax of the dialect of Bari|publisher=Homerton College - University of Cambridge|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/131382669.pdf}} The authors of the Etymologicum Magnum have preserved an etymology by authors of antiquity about Barium, which they explain as the word "house" in Messapic.{{cite book |last1=Matzinger |first1=Joachim |title=Messapisch |date=2019 |publisher=Reichert Verlag |isbn=9783954907205 |page=8}} The city had strong Greek influences before the Roman era.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bari-Italy|title = Bari | Italy| date=15 October 2023 }} In ancient Greek, it was known as Βάριον. In the 3rd century BC, it became part of the Roman Republic and was subsequently Romanized. The city developed strategic significance as the point of junction between the coast road and the Via Traiana and as a port for eastward trade; a branch road to Tarentum led from Barium. Its harbour, mentioned as early as 181 BC, was probably the principal one of the districts in ancient times, as it is at present, and was the centre of a fishery. The first historical bishop of Bari was Gervasius who was noted at the Council of Sardica in 347.{{Cite web |title=SERDICA - Treccani |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/serdica_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)/,%20https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/serdica_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)/ |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Treccani |language=it}}

With the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, it was invaded by Barbarians and occupied by the Ostrogoths. It was taken from them by the Byzantine Empire during the Gothic wars and disputed for the following two centuries with the Lombards of the Duchy of Benevento, who made it a steward.{{Cite web |title=Bari tra oriente e occidente, dal medioevo ad oggi |url=https://www.basilicasannicola.it/page.php?id_art=266&id_cat=196&id_sottocat1=292&id_sottocat2=0&id_sottocat3=0&titolo=Bari%20tra%20oriente%20e%20occidente,%20dal%20medioevo%20ad%20oggi |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=Basilica Pontificia San Nicola |language=it}}

Throughout this period, and indeed throughout the Middle Ages, Bari served as one of the major slave depots of the Mediterranean, providing a central location for the trade in Slavic slaves.{{Cite web |last=admin_italiamedievale |date=2008-02-09 |title=I secoli degli schiavi slavi |url=https://www.italiamedievale.org/i-secoli-degli-schiavi-slavi/ |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=Italia Medievale |language=it-IT}} The slaves were mostly captured by Venice from Dalmatia, by the Holy Roman Empire from what is now Eastern Germany and Poland, and by the Byzantines from elsewhere in the Balkans, and were generally destined for other parts of the Byzantine Empire and (most frequently) the Muslim states surrounding the Mediterranean: the Abbasid Caliphate, the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba, the Emirate of Sicily, and the Fatimid Caliphate (which relied on Slavs purchased at the Bari market for its legions of Sakalaba Mamluks).{{Cite book | title = The Cartoon History of the Universe III – From the Rise of Arabia to the Renaissance (Volumes 14–19)| publisher = Doubleday| year = 2002| isbn = 0-393-32403-6}}

For 20 years, Bari was the centre of the Emirate of Bari; the city was captured by its first emirs Kalfun in 847, who had been part of the mercenary garrison installed there by Radelchis I of Benevento.{{cite book |author=Chris Wickham |title=Early Medieval Italy: Central Power and Local Society 400–1000 |location=Totowa |publisher=Barnes and Noble |year=1981 |pages=62, 154 |isbn=978-0-389-20217-2}} The city was conquered and the emirate extinguished in 871 following five-year campaign by Frankish Emperor Louis II, assisted by a Byzantine fleet.{{Setton-A History of the Crusades | volume = 1 | chapter = The Italian Cities and the Arabs before 1095 |first=Hilmar C. |last=Krueger |page=48}} Chris Wickham states Louis spent five years campaigning to reduce then occupy Bari, "and then only to a Byzantine/Slav naval blockade"; "Louis took the credit" for the success, adding "at least in Frankish eyes", then concludes by noting that by remaining in southern Italy long after this success, he "achieved the near-impossible: an alliance against him of the Beneventans, Salernitans, Neapolitans and Spoletans; later sources include Sawadān as well." In 885, Bari became the residence of the local Byzantine catapan, or governor. The failed revolt (1009–1011) of the Lombard nobles Melus of Bari and his brother-in-law Dattus, against the Byzantine governorate, though it was firmly repressed at the Battle of Cannae (1018), offered their Norman adventurer allies a first foothold in the region.{{cn|date=June 2023}} In 1025, under the Archbishop Byzantius, Bari became attached to the see of Rome and was granted "provincial" status.{{Cite web |title=BISANZIO - Treccani |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/bisanzio_res-355bc01a-87e8-11dc-8e9d-0016357eee51_(Dizionario-Biografico)/,%20https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/bisanzio_res-355bc01a-87e8-11dc-8e9d-0016357eee51_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Treccani |language=it}}

In 1071, Bari was captured by Robert Guiscard, following a three-year siege, ending what remained of the Byzantine power in the region.{{Cite web |title=Robèrto I il Guiscardo duca di Puglia, detto l'Astuto - Treccani |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/roberto-i-il-guiscardo-duca-di-puglia-detto-l-astuto/,%20https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/roberto-i-il-guiscardo-duca-di-puglia-detto-l-astuto/ |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=Treccani |language=it}}

In 1095, Peter the Hermit preached the First Crusade there. In October 1098, Urban II, who had consecrated the Basilica in 1089, convened the Council of Bari, one of a series of synods convoked with the intention of reconciling the Eastern and Western Church on the question of the filioque clause in the Creed, which Anselm ably defended, seated at the pope's side.{{Cite web |title=URBANO II, papa - Treccani |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/papa-urbano-ii_(Dizionario-Biografico)/,%20https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/papa-urbano-ii_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=Treccani |language=it}}

File:XIX century print, Il porto di Bari.jpg{{Main articles|Duchy of Bari}}

A long period of decline characterized the city under the dominations of Aldoino Filangieri di Candida, and those of the Kings of Naples, which held the control of the entire mainland Southern Italy from 1282 to 1806. This decline was interrupted, however, by the splendor under the Sforzas, who ruled the city as Dukes of Bari, a title given by the Neapolitan crown, in particular under the rule of the dukes Ludovico and Beatrice d'Este, then of the duchesses Isabella of Aragon and Bona Sforza. Bari also underwent Venetian domination, which led to the expansion of the port and a very prosperous period, also favored by the trade of inland products, which were in great demand on foreign markets.{{Cite web |title=Parte 2 -1440/1480 |url=http://rilievo.stereofot.it/studenti/aa00/trentadue/relazione/1440-1480.html |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=rilievo.stereofot.it}}{{Cite web |date=2022-03-08 |title=Isabella d'Aragona e Bona Sforza: donne che hanno rivoluzionato la città di Bari. |url=https://www.pugliaculturaeterritorio.it/isabella-daragona-e-bona-sforza-donne-che-hanno-rivoluzionato-la-citta-di-bari/ |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=Puglia Cultura e Territorio |language=it-IT}}

In 1556, Princess Bona Sforza of Aragon, second wife of the King of Poland Sigismund I, left Poland and settled in Bari, whose principality she had inherited from her parents. During her reign, she fortified the city's castle, as evidenced by an inscription in bronze letters on the cornice around the courtyard, as well as building several churches, a monastery, two water cisterns and made many donations to the monks of the Basilica of San Nicola. Bona Sforza died in the city in 1557. Following her death, the city of Bari came under the direct rule of the kings of Naples.{{Cite web |title=BONA Sforza, regina di Polonia - Treccani |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/bona-sforza-regina-di-polonia_(Dizionario-Biografico)/,%20https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/bona-sforza-regina-di-polonia_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=Treccani |language=it}}

In 1813, Joachim Murat, King of Naples in the Napoleonic era, began a new urbanization, changing the face of the city and setting a new "chessboard" growth model, which continued for many years to come. The village built at the time on the outskirts of the old city still retains its name.{{Cite web |last=Traversa |first=Michele |date=2011-02-23 |title=Bari, storia di una città. E venne un Re, l'incontro di Gioacchino Murat a Bari |url=https://www.lsdmagazine.com/2011/02/23/bari-storia-di-una-citta-e-venne-un-re-lincontro-di-gioacchino-murat-a-bari/ |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=LSD Magazine |language=it-IT}}

Modern plumbing arrived in the city of Bari on 24 April 1915: it was the first completed leg of the nascent Apulian Aqueduct. During the 1930s, Araldo di Crollalanza, the mayor and minister of Bari, oversaw the development of its modern waterfront.{{Cite web |last=Feudis |first=Michele De |title=Don Araldo di Crollalanza, il costruttore della Bari moderna |url=https://www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it/news/bari/1342649/don-araldo-di-crollalanza-130-anni-senza-il-costruttore-della-bari-moderna.html |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=www.lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it |date=19 May 2022 |language=it}}

On 11 September 1943, in connection with the Armistice of Cassibile, Bari was taken without resistance by the British 1st Airborne Division{{cn|date=April 2024}}, then during October and November 1943, New Zealand troops from the 2nd New Zealand Division assembled in Bari.{{cite web |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/new-zealand-soldiers-disembark-taranto |title=New Zealand soldiers disembark at Taranto |date= |accessdate=2024-04-08 |quote= |publisher=New Zealand History }}

The Balkan Air Force supporting the Yugoslav partisans was based at Bari.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

{{further|Air raid on Bari}}

Through a tragic coincidence intended by neither of the opposing sides in World War II, Bari gained the unwelcome distinction of being the only European city in the course of that war to experience effects like those of chemical warfare.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

On the night of 2 December 1943, 105 German Junkers Ju 88 bombers attacked the port of Bari, which was a key supply centre for Allied forces fighting their way up the Italian Peninsula. Over 20 Allied ships were sunk in the overcrowded harbour, including the U.S. Liberty ship John Harvey, which was carrying mustard gas; mustard gas was also reported to have been stacked on the quayside awaiting transport (the chemical agent was intended for retaliation if German forces had initiated chemical warfare). The presence of the gas was highly classified and the U.S. had not informed the British military authorities in the city of its existence.{{cn|date=June 2023}} This increased the number of fatalities, since British physicians—who had no idea that they were dealing with the effects of mustard gas—prescribed treatment proper for those suffering from exposure and immersion, which proved fatal in many cases. Because rescuers were unaware they were dealing with gas casualties, many additional casualties were caused among the rescuers, through contact with the contaminated skin and clothing of those more directly exposed to the gas.{{Cite web |last=O'NEILL |first=WALTER |date=2021-06-19 |title=The Disaster at Bari: A Secret Revealed |url=https://medium.com/exploring-history/the-disaster-at-bari-a-secret-revealed-ae4f74b189bd |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=Exploring History |language=en}}{{cn|date=June 2023}}

A member of U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower's medical staff, Stewart F. Alexander, was dispatched to Bari following the raid. Alexander had trained at the Army's Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland,{{Cite web|url=https://www.mapquest.com/us/maryland/edgewood-arsenal-md-283594995|title=Edgewood Arsenal, MD - Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland Map & Directions - MapQuest}}{{citation needed|reason=Please check this reference; the link(?) identifies the Edgewood Arsenal as part of the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland|date=March 2016}} and was familiar with some of the effects of mustard gas. Although he was not informed of the cargo carried by the John Harvey, and most victims suffered atypical symptoms caused by exposure to mustard diluted in water and oil (as opposed to airborne), Alexander rapidly concluded that mustard gas was present. Although he could not get any acknowledgement of this from the chain of command, Alexander convinced medical staffs to treat patients for mustard exposure and saved many lives as a result. He also preserved many tissue samples from autopsied victims at Bari. After World War II, these samples would result in the development of an early form of chemotherapy based on mustard, Mustine.{{cite book |title=Disaster at Bari |author=Glenn Infield |year=1976 |publisher=New English Library |isbn=978-0-450-02659-1}}.

On the orders of Allied leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Eisenhower, records were destroyed and the whole affair was kept secret for many years after the war. The U.S. records of the attack were declassified in 1959, but the episode remained obscure until 1967, when writer Glenn B. Infield exposed the story in his book Disaster at Bari. Additionally, there is considerable dispute as to the exact number of fatalities. In one account: "[S]ixty-nine deaths were attributed in whole or in part to the mustard gas, most of them American merchant seamen".{{cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq104-4.htm |title=US Naval Historical Center report |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112101131/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq104-4.htm |archive-date=January 12, 2008}} Others put the count as high as "more than one thousand Allied servicemen and more than one thousand Italian civilians".[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1889901210 Amazon book summary] of {{cite book |title=Nightmare in Bari: The World War II Liberty Ship Poison Gas Disaster and Coverup |year=2001 |author=Gerald Reminick |publisher=Glencannon Press |isbn=978-1-889-90121-3}}

The affair is the subject of two books: the aforementioned Disaster at Bari, by Glenn B. Infield, and Nightmare in Bari: The World War II Liberty Ship Poison Gas Disaster and Coverup, by Gerald Reminick.

In 1988, through the efforts of Nick T. Spark, U.S. Senators Dennis DeConcini and Bill Bradley, Stewart Alexander received recognition from the Surgeon General of the United States Army for his actions during the Bari disaster.{{cite news |title=Tucson Senior Helps Retired Doctor Receive Military Honor |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=943&dat=19880520&id=-61PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eVMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3824,2173744 |newspaper=Mohave Daily Miner |location=Kingman, Arizona |date=May 20, 1988 |page=B8 |via=Google News}}

The port of Bari was again struck by disaster on 9 April 1945 when the Liberty ship Charles Henderson exploded in the harbour while offloading 2,000 tons of aerial bombs (half of that amount had been offloaded when the explosion occurred). Three hundred and sixty people were killed and 1,730 were wounded. The harbour was again rendered non-operational, this time for a month.

File:Bari explosion view from Barracks crop sm.jpg|9 April 1945 – view from the barracks. Photo by WOJG Hubert Platt Henderson who was stationed at Bari as the Director of the 773rd Band.

File:Bari Explosion 1.jpg|9 April 1945 – photo by WOJG Hubert Platt Henderson who was stationed at Bari as the Director of the 773rd Band

File:Italy 4 Bari Explosion front b.jpg|9 April 1945 – photo by WOJG Hubert Platt Henderson who was stationed at Bari as the Director of the 773rd Band

Bari is the largest urban and metro area on the Adriatic. It is located in Southern Italy, at a more northerly latitude than Naples, further south than Rome.

Bari has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa) bordering on a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa) with mild winters and hot, dry summers.

{{Weather box

| width = auto

| collapsed = yes

| metric first = yes

| single line = yes

| location = Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1932–present)

| Jan record high C = 24.0

| Feb record high C = 25.1

| Mar record high C = 31.6

| Apr record high C = 32.6

| May record high C = 39.1

| Jun record high C = 45.5

| Jul record high C = 45.6

| Aug record high C = 44.8

| Sep record high C = 39.1

| Oct record high C = 35.2

| Nov record high C = 28.7

| Dec record high C = 24.0

| year record high C =

| Jan high C = 12.6

| Feb high C = 13.2

| Mar high C = 15.7

| Apr high C = 19.0

| May high C = 23.6

| Jun high C = 28.2

| Jul high C = 30.6

| Aug high C = 30.5

| Sep high C = 26.2

| Oct high C = 21.9

| Nov high C = 17.6

| Dec high C = 13.9

| year high C = 21.1

| Jan mean C = 8.3

| Feb mean C = 8.7

| Mar mean C = 10.9

| Apr mean C = 13.9

| May mean C = 18.5

| Jun mean C = 23.0

| Jul mean C = 25.4

| Aug mean C = 25.4

| Sep mean C = 21.2

| Oct mean C = 17.2

| Nov mean C = 13.2

| Dec mean C = 9.6

| year mean C = 16.3

| Jan low C = 4.1

| Feb low C = 4.2

| Mar low C = 6.0

| Apr low C = 8.9

| May low C = 13.0

| Jun low C = 17.3

| Jul low C = 20.0

| Aug low C = 20.1

| Sep low C = 16.5

| Oct low C = 12.6

| Nov low C = 9.0

| Dec low C = 5.8

| year low C = 11.5

| Jan record low C = -7.6

| Feb record low C = -3.0

| Mar record low C = -5.4

| Apr record low C = -0.9

| May record low C = 3.6

| Jun record low C = 7.8

| Jul record low C = 11.8

| Aug record low C = 12.4

| Sep record low C = 8.4

| Oct record low C = 4.0

| Nov record low C = -1.0

| Dec record low C = -3.6

| year record low C =

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation mm = 50.8

| Feb precipitation mm = 37.0

| Mar precipitation mm = 41.0

| Apr precipitation mm = 42.0

| May precipitation mm = 30.4

| Jun precipitation mm = 29.4

| Jul precipitation mm = 17.8

| Aug precipitation mm = 13.3

| Sep precipitation mm = 41.7

| Oct precipitation mm = 53.9

| Nov precipitation mm = 62.0

| Dec precipitation mm = 47.4

| year precipitation mm = 466.6

| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

| Jan precipitation days = 7.4

| Feb precipitation days = 5.6

| Mar precipitation days = 6.5

| Apr precipitation days = 6.0

| May precipitation days = 4.5

| Jun precipitation days = 3.0

| Jul precipitation days = 1.9

| Aug precipitation days = 2.3

| Sep precipitation days = 4.8

| Oct precipitation days = 5.5

| Nov precipitation days = 7.0

| Dec precipitation days = 7.0

| year precipitation days = 61.4

| Jan humidity = 71.8

| Feb humidity = 69.7

| Mar humidity = 69.1

| Apr humidity = 67.8

| May humidity = 66.3

| Jun humidity = 64.2

| Jul humidity = 60.4

| Aug humidity = 63.3

| Sep humidity = 68.3

| Oct humidity = 73.2

| Nov humidity = 74.9

| Dec humidity = 73.1

| year humidity = 68.5

| source 1 = NOAA{{cite web

|url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Italy/CSV/BariPalese_16270.csv

|title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Bari

|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|access-date = February 4, 2024}}

| source 2 = Servizio Meteorologico (extremes){{Cite web |title=Bari Palese |website=Temperature estreme in Toscana |date= |access-date=4 February 2024 |url= http://climaintoscana.altervista.org/italia/stazioni-wmo/bari-palese/ |language=it}}

}}

File:Municipalities of Bari with numbers.svg

Bari is divided into five municipalities (Municipi), constituted in 2014.{{cite web | url=https://www.comune.bari.it/i-municipi | title=I Municipi di Bari | language=it}} The municipality is also divided into 17 official neighbourhoods ("quartieri").{{cite news |url=http://www.palapa.it/palapadnn/Quartieri/tabid/23/Default.aspx |publisher=Palapa.it |title=Quartieri |date=8 January 2008 |access-date=31 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813042322/http://www.palapa.it/palapadnn/Quartieri/tabid/23/Default.aspx |archive-date=13 August 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}

File:Bari al tramonto - fotografia di Augusto Aulenta.jpg

File:Teatro Margherita dall'alto.jpg

File:Bari teatro piccinni.jpg

File:The port of Bari, Italy (L. Massoptier).jpg

• Teatro Margherita.
• Teatro Piccinni.
• Orto botanico di Bari, a botanical garden.
• Santa Chiara, once church of the Teutonic Knights (as Santa Maria degli Alemanni) and now houses a museum. It was restored in 1539.{{cn|date=October 2024}}
• The Palazzo dell'Acquedotto Pugliese, historicist central administration palace of the Apulian Aqueduct
• The medieval church of San Marco dei Veneziani, with a rose window in the façade.
• Conservatory of Bari
• San Giorgio degli Armeni.
• Santa Teresa dei Maschi, the main Baroque church in the city (1690–1696).{{cn|date=October 2024}}
• Pane e Pomodoro Beach is the main beach within reach of the city. Its reputation has for several years suffered from the apparent presence of asbestos from nearby industrial plants.{{cn|date=October 2024}}
• Bari features two sea harbours: the Old Port and the New Port, constructed in 1850{{cn|date=October 2024}}.

File:Bari Basilica San Nicola.jpg

The Basilica di San Nicola (Saint Nicholas) was founded in 1087 to receive the relics of this saint, which were brought from Myra in Lycia, and now lie beneath the altar in the crypt. The church is one of the four Palatine churches of Apulia (the others being the cathedrals of Acquaviva delle Fonti and Altamura, and the church of Monte Sant'Angelo sul Gargano).{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Bari (town)|display=Bari|volume=3|page=400}}

Bari Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Sabinus of Canosa (San Sabino), was begun in Byzantine style in 1034, but was destroyed in the sack of the city of 1156. A new building was thus built between 1170 and 1178, partially inspired by that of San Nicola. Of the original edifice, only traces of the pavement are today visible in the transept.

The Petruzzelli Theatre, founded in 1903, hosted different forms of live entertainment, or nineteenth century "Politeama". The theatre was all but destroyed in a fire on October 27, 1991. It was reopened in October 2009, after 18 years.

{{See also|Castello Svevo}}

File:Puglia Bari2.jpg

File:Bari BW 2016-10-19 12-32-30.jpg

File:BariDec042021 02.jpg

File:Castle and Old Town of Bari - September 2017.jpg

The Norman-Hohenstaufen Castle, widely known as the Castello Svevo (Swabian Castle), was built by Roger II of Sicily around 1131. Destroyed in 1156, it was rebuilt by Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. The castle now serves as a gallery for a variety of temporary exhibitions in the city.

The Pinacoteca Provinciale di Bari (Provincial Picture Gallery of Bari) is the most important art gallery in Apulia. It was first established in 1928 and contains many paintings from the 15th century up to the days of contemporary art.

The Russian Church of Saint Nicholas, in the Carrassi district of Bari, was built in the early 20th century to welcome Russian pilgrims who came to the city to visit the church of Saint Nicholas in the old city where the relics of the saint remain.

Bari vecchia, or Old Bari, is a sprawl of streets and passageways making up the section of the city to the north of the modern Murat area. A large-scale redevelopment plan began with a new sewerage system, followed by the development of the two main squares, Piazza Mercantile and Piazza Ferrarese.{{cn|date=August 2024}}

{{Historical populations|1861|44572|1871|61541|1881|72624|1901|94236|1911|121633|1921|136247|1931|172600|1936|197918|1951|268183|1961|312023|1971|357274|1981|371022|1991|342309|2001|316532|2011|315933|2021|315948|type=|footnote=Source: ISTAT}}{{As of|2019}}, there were 316,491 people residing in Bari (about 1.6 million lived in the greater Bari area in 2015), located in the province of Bari, Apulia, of whom 47.9% were male and 52.1% were female.{{cite web |website=Comuni-Italiani.it |title=Popolazione Bari 2001-2015 |language=it |url=http://www.comuni-italiani.it/072/006/statistiche/recenti.html |access-date=2018-03-13}} {{As of|2007}}, minors (children ages 18 and younger) totaled 17.90 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 19.08 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06 percent (minors) and 19.94 percent (pensioners). The average age of Bari residents is 42 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Bari grew by 2.69 percent, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.56 percent.{{cite web |url=http://demo.istat.it/bil2007/index.html |title=Statistiche demografiche ISTAT |publisher=Demo.istat.it |access-date=2009-05-05| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090426215446/http://demo.istat.it/bil2007/index.html| archive-date= 26 April 2009 | url-status= live}} The current birth rate of Bari is 8.67 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.{{Cite web |title=Bari: what to see and what to do |url=https://viaggiart.com/en/bari |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=ViaggiArt |language=en}}

{{As of|2015}}, 3.8% of the population were foreign residents.{{cite web |website=Comuni-Italiani.it |title=Cittadini Stranieri - Bari |language=it |trans-title=Foreigners - Bari |url=http://www.comuni-italiani.it/072/006/statistiche/stranieri.html |access-date=2018-03-13}}

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According to an urban migration study in Bari, return migration gain to urban areas is higher than migration loss from urban areas. People migrating from urban destinations tend to migrate to different places in comparison to people migrating from rural areas. These findings are based on the background and behavior of a sample of 211 return migrants to Bari, Italy. Bari is a port city, making it historically important because of its strong trade links with Greece, North Africa, and the eastern Mediterranean. Bari's economic structure is based on industry, commerce, services, and administration. Around two-thirds of the city's employment is in the tertiary sector with its port, commerce, and administrative functions. The highest percentage of Bari's working population is employed in services, with 45.6%. From 1958 to 1982, around 20% of migrants left Bari for other Italian communes, while around 17% or migrants came to Bari from other Italian communes. Under 2% of migrants left Bari to go abroad and came to the city from abroad.{{cite journal |last1=King |first1=Russel |last2=Strachan |first2=Alan |last3=Mortimer |first3=Jill |title=The Urban Dimension of European Return Migration: The Case of Bari, Southern Italy |journal=Urban Studies |date=June 1985 |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=219–235 |jstor=43192080 |doi=10.1080/00420988520080361|bibcode=1985UrbSt..22..219K |s2cid=154608219 }}

The Fiera del Levante, held in September in the Fiera site on the west side of Bari city center, focuses on agriculture and industry. There is also a "Fair of Nations" which displays handcrafted and locally produced goods from all over the world.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

File:Orecchiette al Pomodoro.jpg]]

Bari's cuisine is based on three typical agricultural products found within the surrounding region of Apulia, namely wheat, olive oil and wine.{{cite web |title=Puglia |url=https://britannicaeducation.com/britannica-school/ |website=Britannica School |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=4 March 2025}} The local cuisine is also enriched by the wide variety of fruit and vegetables produced locally. Local flour is used in homemade bread and pasta production including, most notably, the famous orecchiette ear-shaped pasta, recchietelle or strascinate, chiancarelle (orecchiette of different sizes) and cavatelli.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

Homemade dough is also used for baked calzoni stuffed with onions, anchovies, capers, olives, etc.; fried panzerotti with mozzarella and/or ricotta forte; focaccia alla barese with tomatoes, olives and oregano; little savoury taralli, and larger friselle; and sgagliozze, fried slices of polenta; all making up the Barese culinary repertoire.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

Vegetable minestrone, chick peas, broad beans, chicory, celery and fennel are also often served as first courses or side dishes.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

Meat dishes and the local Barese ragù often include lamb and pork.

{{cn|date=November 2023}}

Pasta al forno, a baked pasta dish, is very popular in Bari and was historically a Sunday dish, or a dish used at the start of Lent when all the rich ingredients such as eggs and pork had to be used for religious reasons. The recipe commonly consists of penne or similar tubular pasta shapes, a tomato sauce, small beef and pork meatballs and halved hard-boiled eggs. The pasta is then topped with mozzarella or similar cheese and then baked in the oven to make the dish have its trademark crispy texture.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

Another popular pasta dish is the spaghetti all'assassina. It is a slightly crunchy spaghetti dish, cooked in an iron pan with garlic, olive oil, chili pepper, tomato sauce and tomato broth.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lacucinaitaliana.it/storie/piatti-tipici/spaghetti-assassina-piatto-barese/|title=Spaghetti all'assassina: Dove mangiarli a Bari e la ricetta per farli a casa|date=9 March 2021}}

Fresh fish and seafood are often eaten raw. Octopus, sea urchins and mussels feature heavily. Perhaps Bari's most famous dish is the oven-baked patate, riso e cozze (potatoes with rice and mussels).

Bari and the whole Apulian region have a range of wines, including Primitivo, Castel del Monte, and Muscat, notably Moscato di Trani.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

{{Main|Bari dialect}}

The dialect of Bari belongs to the upper-southern Italo-Romance family, and currently coexists with Italian; generally these are used in different contexts. {{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}

{{See also|History of SSC Bari}}File:Stadio San Nicola Bari 2009.jpg]]

Local football club S.S.C. Bari, currently competing in Serie B (as of the 2024–2025 season), plays in the Stadio San Nicola, an architecturally innovative 58,000-seater stadium purpose-built for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The stadium also hosted the 1991 European Cup final.

In 2007, Bari hosted the first and only world games for underwater sports.

• Academy of Fine Arts of Bari
• Conservatory of Bari
• Polytechnic University of Bari
• University of Bari

File:Bari Central Station.jpg

Bari has its own airport, Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport, which is located {{convert|8|km|mi|abbr=on}} northwest of the centre of Bari. It is connected to the centre by train services from Bari Aeroporto railway station.

Bari Central Station lies on the Adriatic railway and has connection to cities such as Rome, Milan, Bologna, Turin and Venice. Another mainline is connection southwards by the Bari-Taranto railway. The Bari metropolitan railway service operates local commuter services; while regional services also operate to Foggia, Barletta, Brindisi, Lecce, Taranto and other towns and villages in the Apulia region.

Bari has an old fishery port (Porto Vecchio) and a so-called new port in the north, as well as some marinas. The Port of Bari is an important cargo transport hub to Southeast Europe. Various passenger transport lines include some seasonal ferry lines to Albania, Montenegro or Dubrovnik. Bari – Igoumenitsa is a popular ferry route to Greece. Some cruise ships call at Bari.

The Guido Guerrieri novels by Gianrico Carofiglio are set in Bari, where Guerrieri is a criminal lawyer, and include many descriptions of the town.

Bari is one of the primary settings of the 1954 detective novel The Black Mountain by Rex Stout. It is the characters' point of embarkation to Communist Yugoslavia.

In the 1995 film The Bridges of Madison County, Italian housewife Francesca Johnson (Meryl Streep), is mentioned as being from Bari and growing up in Naples.

The 2020 Edoardo Ponti film La vita davanti a sé, starring Sophia Loren, is set in Bari.

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• Licia Albanese
• Giovanni Alemanno
• Emanuele Arciuli
• Argyrus (catepan of Italy)
• Francesco Attolico
• Lino Banfi
• Alessio Bax
• Pope Benedict XIII
• Gioia Bruno
• Gianrico Carofiglio
• Antonio Cassano
• Riccardo Cucciolla
• Niccolò dell'Arca
• Chiara Fumai
• Giovanni Pietro Gallo{{Cite encyclopedia |author=Iain Fenlon|date=2001|entry=Gallo, Giovanni Pietro|encyclopedia=Grove Music Online|publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.10573}}
• Franco Giordano
• Alfredo Giovine
• Ivan Iusco
• Gaetano Latilla
• Guido Marzulli
• Antonio Matarrese
• Ermal Meta
• Marco Misciagna
• Domenico Modugno
• Aldo Moro
• Pomponio Nenna
• Mario Nuzzolese
• Joe Orlando
• Anna Oxa
• Pino Pascali
• Nico Perrone
• Niccolò Piccinni
• Victor Posa
• Lazarus Racanelli
• Francesco Racanelli
• Francesco Riefolo
• Rocco Rodio
• Sergio Rubini
• Gaetano Salvemini
• Bona Sforza
• Cesare Stea
• Catia Summaria
• Gemma Taccogna
• Pope Urban VI
• Nichi Vendola
• Checco Zalone
• Dulcita Lieggi
• Fabio Delvino

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{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Italy}}

Bari is twinned with:{{cite web |title=I sedici gemellaggi di Bari|url=https://quotidianodibari.it/i-sedici-gemellaggi-di-bari/|website=quotidianodibari.it|publisher=Quotidiano di Bari|language=it|date=2017-07-11|access-date=2019-12-13}}

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}

• Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Batumi, Georgia
• Corfu, Greece
• Durrës, Albania
• Guangzhou, China
• Kostroma, Russia
• Mar del Plata, Argentina
• Monte Sant'Angelo, Italy
• Palma de Mallorca, Spain
• Patras, Greece
• San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
• Słupsk, Poland
• Szczecin, Poland
• Sumgait, Azerbaijan

{{div col end}}

{{Portal|Italy|European Union|Cities}}

• Accademia Apulia
• Antivari (means "opposite Bari")
• Bari Light – the Punta San Cataldo di Bari Lighthouse
• Durrës
• Province of Bari

{{Reflist}}

{{See also|Timeline of Bari#Bibliography|l1=Bibliography of the history of Bari}}

• Glenn B. Infield. 1973. Disaster at Bari. Ace Books. New York, N.Y.
• Vito Antonio Melchiorre. 2001. Note storiche su Bari.

{{Commons category|Bari}}

{{Wikivoyage|Bari}}

• [http://www.comune.bari.it/ City of Bari]
• [http://www.provincia.ba.it/ Province of Bari] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508080909/http://provincia.ba.it/ |date=2021-05-08 }}
• [http://www.regione.puglia.it/ Region of Apulia]

{{Province of Bari}}

{{Cities in Italy}}

{{Regional Capitals of Italy}}

{{Mediterranean Games}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities and towns in Apulia

Category:Coastal towns in Apulia

Category:Mediterranean port cities and towns in Italy

Category:Port cities and towns of the Adriatic Sea