Altamura

Altamura stands on the broad limestone plateau of the Murge, among the grain-growing lands of inland Apulia. Emperor Frederick II promoted the town and founded its cathedral, whose towers rise above the old streets. Houses cluster around small enclosed courts known as claustri, giving the historic centre a distinctive pattern. The cathedral and its square formed a visible focus for the community founded under the emperor.

In 1799 Altamura supported the Parthenopean Republic proclaimed at Naples. Its inhabitants resisted the royalist military forces led by Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, but the town was taken and plundered. During the French period that followed, a court of appeal sat at Altamura from 1808 to 1817, bringing judicial business from several neighbouring southern provinces to the town.