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Monopoli is a municipality in the province of Bari with approximately 48 thousand inhabitants.
It is one of the busiest ports on the Adriatic and among the most populous in the region. Its characteristic historic center of early medieval origin, superimposed on the remains of a Messapian settlement fortified as early as the 5th century BC, overlooks the sea surrounded by high walls.
The city of Monopoli would have its ancient origins from a powerful Messapian fortress located on the border of Peucezia. The Messapian walls are still preserved near the Bishop's Palace.
From the Roman era only the large fortified gate remains, incorporated into the Castle, and some tombs in the underground area of the Cathedral.
From the 10th century it became an important port between Bari and Brindisi. In 1041 the so-called battle of Monopoli took place between the Byzantines and the Normans, with the imprisonment of Exausto.
The city joins the Apulian insurrection asking for help from the Normans. In 1042 Byzantium sends to Apulia the famous and cruel general George Maniace, prince and vicar of the Emperor of Constantinople, who immediately turns against the city but, failing to take it, attacks the countryside and rural villages, with terrible massacres and unheard of cruelty.
In 1045 Monopoli was assigned, but only on paper, to Ugo Toute-Bone in the Norman assembly of Melfi. However, he managed to conquer it only in 1049, resorting to the filling in of the canal port which allowed him to bypass the strong land defenses.
Subsequently, the city, faithful to Frederick II during his minority, suffered numerous attacks by rebel barons without ever being conquered. During these sieges the walls were significantly damaged and Frederick II showed gratitude by rebuilding and expanding them.
Monopoli, in the second half of the 13th century, experienced the domination of the Angevins, and then submitted to the Aragonese, during which it experienced a period of recovery that continued even under Venetian domination in 1484.
The city passed from Venice to the French after a few years. Memorable, cruel and well documented is the Siege of Monopoli by the Venetian fleet, which reconquered the city in a few days after violent and bloody fighting, attacking it from the sea on June 29, 1495.
After the peace with Venice, the city peacefully passed into the hands of Charles V of Habsburg. In July 1647, during a popular revolt over a new tax on ground grain, the hated Spanish governor was lynched along with a poor man-at-arms who tried to defend him.
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