Experience the best of Taranto

Taranto was founded as Taras by Spartan settlers around 706 BC and became one of the richest cities of Magna Graecia. The old town sits on a small island between two seas, the open Mar Grande and the enclosed Mar Piccolo, linked to the mainland by a swing bridge. Its Aragonese castle, built in the fifteenth century, guards the channel, and the Cathedral of San Cataldo stands among narrow lanes.

The Museo Archeologico Nazionale, known as MArTA, shows Greek gold jewellery, painted vases and sculpture from the ancient city and its cemeteries. Taranto is also one of Italy's main naval bases. Inland, Grottaglie is known for its ceramics, Alberobello's trulli, the conical-roofed stone houses, are a UNESCO site to the north, and the cave dwellings of Matera lie across the regional border to the north-west.

Mussels and oysters from the Mar Piccolo make the local dishes, including tiella, baked rice with mussels and potatoes, alongside orecchiette with turnip tops, taralli and the rich Primitivo wine of nearby Manduria. Holy Week is a major event, with slow Good Friday processions carried by brotherhoods through the old town. Summers are hot and dry, and mild springs suit exploring.