Itinerary 4: THE SURROUNDING OF THE CITY (by car or bike)

The Route

The Stages
Departing from Crispi Square, at the Railway station, you turn left at the second street which is Via C.Colombo and cover the full length of this historic road, up until you reach the crossing, where you will find the (1) Hell's Tower (photo), built in 1484 together with the Aragon walls that join this piece of history to the Swabian Castle (see Itinerary 1). Turn left into "Via Provinciale San Vito" and continue for approximately 800 mt, where on the left you will find the (2) Tancredi Fountain (more info and photos). Continuing in the direction of the area known as "Casale" , at the first crossroad which corresponds with the Cillarese Canal, you will see the (3) monument dedicated to Aldo Moro, a modern work of art by Marcello Avenali, in metal, inaugurated in 1980 (photo). From here turn right and take the panoramic road of "Via A. Vespucci" where on the right, following the ports coastal line known as Seno di Ponente (the west-cove - photo), you can admire the northern side ofthe Swabian Castle, and the small port of the (4) "Lega Navale", the Italian Nautical Association - (photo). Continuing through "Via Napoli" and "Via Pisa", turn right onto "Via Benedetto Brin", and cover the full length of "Via Maddalena" and "Via Materdomini", arriving at the area known as "la Sciaia", following the road signs, you will get to the new tourist port known as (5) Brindisi Marina (photo1 - photo2), near the dam known as "Bocche di Puglia" (photo) which connects the mainland with the island of St. Andrea, where the fortresses of the (6) Aragones Castle are (more info and photos).
Continuing along the "litoranea" (coastal) road toward north, with the sea on the right for approximately 4 km, reaching the locality of (7) "Punta Penne", where you can see one of the ancient guard towers (photo), built during the XIV century to prevent enemy troops disembarking at this point. There are several of these towers along this coast line, almost all of them being frustum-pyramidal shaped structures resting on square bases.
A few kilometres ahead you will reach the crossing which connects to the airport. Following the indications, you will find the beautiful Romanesque-gothic (8) church of St. Maria del Casale (more info and photos), which is not too far away from the airport.

Once you have visited this beautiful church, you can head in the direction of the city of Bari by turning onto the state road n. 379, which you will follow until you reach the exit lane indicated by the (9) church of St. Mary the Mother of the Church, also known as Jaddico (more info and photos). Here you can take some time out and enjoy the quiet surroundings of this beautiful sanctuary. The next stage of this tour will take you 10km north to the (10) Protected Park of Torre Guaceto (more info and photos). To visit this Nature Reserve and Protected Marine Area it is necessary to contact the Serranova Visititors Centre (tel. +39 0831.989885 - website). This ancient sighting tower was built in the 1531 by the marquis de Alarçon, as protection to the coast and its surroundings, where drinkable water was available. This area was inhabited during the XII century b.C. The populations which lived here during the Bronze Age developed activities such as ceramic manufacturing and also had navigational relationships with the Mycenaean people.
To reach the (11) Serranova village is very easy: from the Serranova exit on the SS 379 you follow the provincial road passing through the beautiful country side, adorned with century-old olive trees that have extraordinary shapes and dimensions (photo).
From here, travelling in the direction of "S.Vito dei Normanni", you will find the monastic settlement of "Jannuzzo", where on a natural high ground, partially encircled from the "Reale Canal", there are several caves of various sizes (photo); among these there is the famous (12) Crypt of St. Biagio, with frescos from the XI century on the vault and on the sidewalls, like episodes from the of Gospel. To visit these caves you can contact the "Coop.Thalassia" (tel. +39 0831 989885 - 0831 989986 - website).

Download: the complete Schedule of the Route (282 Kb)

« Back