Bisceglie

Like all places along the Adriatic coast, Bisceglie has Greek and Roman roots, but after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the area was not really "developed". First small monasteries were founded, when the Lombards ruled the area before the Saracens took over for three decades in the 9th century. Around 1000 the Normans arrived in Southern Italy. A vassal of Robert Guiscard became Count of Trani in 1042. At that time the fortification of the place, that is Bisceglie now, started.

Life in the old towns of Southern Italy is pretty public, the streets are narrow, windows are open and the balconies just some metres apart. In case a tenor singer lives in such a street, all the neighbours will know his voice. In the evenings, when it is getting cooler, people meet in the street - and talk.