So many associations come with the capital of Puglia that I genuinely do not know what I could write that someone has not already written. Almost everything has been said about Bari.
For most of you, it will probably be the first place you encounter after landing in Puglia. This is where Karol Wojtyła Airport is located. Polish visitors step off the plane, see the name and immediately feel a little more at home.
The question is: what next?
Do you collect a car and escape south, or stay in Bari for a day or two?
I most often do the former. For me, Bari is above all an airport from which I quickly transfer to a car or train and head home. But when I come here before my return flight, I try to arrive a day early — to wander around, eat something good and once again feel the atmosphere of the city.
A little piece of Poland in Bari
I mentioned that Polish visitors can feel somewhat at home in Bari. There really is something to it.
Our Polish pope has his airport here. Zbigniew Boniek once managed the local football team. And in the distinguished company of Saint Nicholas — THE Saint Nicholas, the bishop, not the character dressed up for Coca-Cola adverts — one of the most remarkable women ever to sit on the Polish throne has her monumental tomb: Queen Bona Sforza.
You will find it in the austere, monumental Basilica di San Nicola.
Saint Nicholas, meanwhile, has an underground crypt in which his relics are kept. Because he is also one of the most important saints in Orthodox Christianity, do not be surprised to see many Eastern-rite pilgrims praying beside his tomb.
Basilica di San Nicola is one of those places I try to visit every time. Not because I am excessively devout. I simply love buildings like this.
The basilica is one of the most important examples of Puglian Romanesque architecture — austere, massive and almost entirely free of unnecessary ornament. It is precisely this simplicity that impresses me so deeply.
It is also an excellent point from which to begin a walk through the lanes of Bari Vecchia, the old town.
Orecchiette, narrow streets and seafood
There you will find everything you have read about in guidebooks and previously watched in social-media reels.
Italian mamme and nonne making orecchiette in front of visitors. Small cafés. Bars. Washing strung between houses. Narrow lanes in which someone passes on a scooter every few moments.
Yes — Bari has an extraordinary atmosphere.
Yes — you absolutely should try orecchiette. I like it best in its simplest version, with tomato sauce.
And seafood, of course.
And then there is the opera…
For opera lovers — or simply admirers of beautiful interiors — I also recommend Teatro Petruzzelli.
I went there to see Don Pasquale.
I think it was good.
I admit that I fell asleep.
Worse still, the moment I woke up I embarrassed myself.
Applause woke me and, convinced that an act or perhaps the whole performance had just ended, I started clapping along.
Except… no one else was clapping.
It turned out the applause was part of the action. Don Pasquale had clapped twice to summon the servants. In the process, he had also summoned me from my sleep.
He clapped. I clapped too.
The servants did not come, but several people started looking at me. Despite that embarrassing mistake, the theatre itself absolutely delighted me and is truly worth seeing from the inside.
I also have one practical tip. When we visited in November, I came wearing a coat. I asked where the cloakroom was, only to learn that there was none.
I therefore sat through the whole of Don Pasquale with my coat on my lap. Perhaps that is exactly why I felt so warm and comfortable that I fell asleep.
Bari should be experienced in your own way
You could talk about Bari for hours. You could make lists of monuments, restaurants and places you “simply have to see”.
I think the best thing is simply to come here.
Wander through Bari Vecchia. Enter the basilica. Eat orecchiette. Sit over a coffee. Walk by the sea.
And then write your own Bari story.
That is what I encourage you to do.
If you would like to know more about Bari or are thinking about buying property in this part of Puglia — write to us.
Perhaps one day we will be neighbours.
