Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Palazzo delle Poste

Sicily, the largest Mediterranean island, has a long history, that starts around 8000 BC, but later there were Phoenician, Carthaginian, Greek, and Roman periods. After the Roman Empire had fallen apart the Vandals tried to take over the island but failed. Finally, the Ostrogoths took possession. Mid of the 6th century Sicily was conquered by troops of the Byzantine Empire. After the advent of Islam, Sicily got attacked by Arab forces. Raids seeking loot continued until the mid-8th century. A Muslim army was sent to the island in 827 but met with much resistance. So it took a century to conquer it and even later revolts constantly occurred In 1038 the Byzantines invaded the island supported by Norman mercenaries, led by Roger. In 1072, after the siege of Palermo, most of Sicily was under Norman control. Roger´s son Roger II raised the status +of the island to a kingdom in 1130. During this period, the Kingdom of Sicily was prosperous and powerful, The court of Roger II became melting out of culture from Europe and the Middle East. This attracted scholars, scientists, artists, and artisans. Muslims, Jews, Greeks, Lombards, and Normans cooperated and created some extraordinary buildings. In 1186 the last descendant of Roger, Constance of Sicily married Emperor Henry VI, the second son of Barbarossa. So the crown of Sicily was passed on to the Hohenstaufen Dynasty. Frederick II, the only son of Constance, was crowned King of Sicily at the age of four in 1198. He became "Stupor Mundi", one of the greatest and most cultured men of the Middle Ages. - Palermo, founded in 734 BC by the Phoenicians, became a possession of Carthage and later was part of the Roman Empire. From 831 to 1072 the city was under Arab rule. Following the Norman conquest, Palermo became the capital of a new Kingdom of Sicily and the capital of the Holy Roman Empire under Emperor Frederick II and King Conrad IV. The Palazzo delle Poste is a monumental government building, designed by the rationalist, and later fascist, government architect Angiolo Mazzoni in the early 1920s. It is typical of the fascist period I have already uploaded a lot of photos previously taken in Palermo. Now I will add only a few. If you want to see more, follow this link: www.ipernity.com/doc/323415/album/1333402

Taranto located on a peninsula was founded by Greek settlers and during the period of Greek colonization in Southern Italy, the city was among the most important in "Magna Graecia". During the Second Punic War, Taranto supported Hannibal in Italy and opened it´s doors to his troops in 212 BC, but when Romans recaptured Taranto three years later, they massacred the citizens and looted the town. It became a Roman colony later. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Taranto got strongly fortified. In 547 Taranto asked a Byzantine general for support. He greatly reduced the size of the city in order to be able to defend it at all. So he separated the part of the isthmus from the actual city area, making an iland out of the peninsula and fortified it strongly. Nevertheless, three years later, the city was conquered by the Ostrogoth troops of Totila. Later Taranto was ruled by Langobards. The city was conquered by the Saracens in 839 and an emirate existed up to 880 when it was taken by a Byzantine army, but in 927 the Saracens were back looted and destroyed the city. It was rebuilt under Byzantine power from 967 on. The Normans conquered Taranto in the second half of the 11th century and founded the "Principality of Taranto" 1086. At that time the city was still strongly Greek and had a thriving Jewish community. Frederic II bequeathed the principality to his son Manfred. The Taranto Post Office was built in 1935 - 1937. The building is 23 m high but only has four floors. It has the typical monumentality of the architecture of the fascist period.