Altamura
Altamura is a hilltop town on the Murge plateau in the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, about 45 kilometres southwest of Bari. Founded by Emperor Frederick II in 1232 as a fortified multicultural settlement, it is best known for its Norman-Apulian cathedral and for the Altamura Man, a Neanderthal fossil discovered in 1993 in the Lamalunga cave system near the town.
At a glance
- Type
- Historic hilltop town and comune
- Period
- Founded 1232 by Frederick II; earlier Bronze Age and Greek settlements documented
- Style
- Apulian Romanesque (cathedral); medieval urban fabric; Baroque and Renaissance civic buildings
- Location
- Murge plateau, Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy
- Coordinates
- 40.8279° N, 16.5531° E
Overview
Altamura stands at roughly 473 metres above sea level on one of the high limestone hills of the Murge plateau, close to the Basilicata border. With a population of around 70,000, it is one of the principal inland towns of Apulia and the seat of important agricultural and bread-making traditions protected by a DOP designation. The historic centre retains a tight medieval street plan enclosed within remnants of the Federiciana walls.
History
Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen ordered the construction of Altamura in 1232, populating it with Greeks, Jews, Saracens and Latin Christians in a deliberate act of multicultural colonisation typical of his southern Italian policy. The town grew around the cathedral he had built on the same site as an earlier church. Altamura was sacked and largely destroyed by Louis I of Hungary in 1368, then rebuilt during the Aragonese and subsequent Spanish viceregal period, which left the Baroque imprint still visible in many palace facades.
What you see
The cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, consecrated in 1232 and remodelled in the 14th and 15th centuries, dominates the old town with its two bell towers and a richly carved Romanesque-Gothic portal featuring relief figures of the Annunciation and the Apostles. The narrow alleys of the sassi-like historic centre wind through pale limestone palaces and whitewashed courtyards. On the eastern edge of the municipality, the Lamalunga cave system preserves the calcite-encrusted skeleton of Altamura Man, a Neanderthal dated to approximately 130,000–172,000 years ago.
Cultural significance
Altamura is recognised as a site of exceptional prehistoric heritage: the Altamura Man fossil is one of the most complete Neanderthal specimens ever found in Europe, and ongoing genomic studies continue to yield new data on human evolution. The town’s bread — Pane di Altamura DOP — has become a symbol of Italian agri-food identity internationally, and the cathedral is listed among Apulia’s foremost Romanesque monuments.
Practical information
- Address
- Piazza Duomo, 70022 Altamura BA, Italy
- Cathedral hours
- Check the cathedral’s official website or local tourist office for current opening times
- Lamalunga cave
- Not open to public; guided visits to the Altamura Man discovery site require advance booking through the Museo Nazionale Ridola network
- Admission
- Cathedral free; cave visits require booking
Getting there
Altamura is served by the Ferrovie Appulo Lucane (FAL) regional railway from Bari (approx. 1 hour) and Matera (approx. 30 minutes). By car, take the SS96 or SS171 from Bari; the town is about 45 km southwest on the Murge plateau. Parking is available on the ring road around the historic centre.