Beautiful Trani

Last Sunday was a real highlight. The sun finally came out on our last day in Puglia and we made our long-awaited trip to Trani. It's right on the Adriatic Coast and said to be one of the nicest towns in the area. We agree! Still very few tourists, but more lively and a bit more prosperous. It has a very active harbor and the fishermen sell their catches right out of their boats on the boardwalk.






This church is from the 12th century and was built by the Knights Templar. Lots of Crusades connections in port towns like this.



On one of the piers we very pleased to discover nearly a dozen cats, a little skittish but friendly enough to sit by us and occasionally touch our hand with their nose.

And then there's Trani Cathedral, seen behind David above. Absolutely magnificent. First of all, the location is incredible - right on the sea! And the architecture is pure, beautiful Romanesque, dating from the 12th century and adorned with fine rose windows and lots of interesting carvings.







Then, on the inside, I discovered it has three levels! Quite unusual. There's a normal cathedral space upstairs, a crypt in the middle, and another crypt below that. All with wonderful old columns and arches:


Stairs to the various levels


Main cathedral level


Middle crypt


Bottom crypt


And there's also a small catacomb area dating from the 5th century AD.


And medieval mosaics by the altar!


And a beautiful old bronze door! This is St. George.

We had lunch at the Hotel Regia, which is practically on the doorstep of the cathedral overlooking the harbor. They have a cafe and a restaurant and the latter was apparently reserved for a function. But the kind ladies at the cafe said they could make us something, and we settled at an outdoor table with a fine view of the cathedral's southeast corner. We never saw menus, but soon antipasti appeared...


Those olives in the center were as juicy as they look, and so delicious.


Then plates of fresh pasta. Just perfect. We had a lot of cold, snack-like lunches in Puglia because it was difficult to find anything open in the little towns, so this was like heaven.

It would have been ideal for photos if we had stayed in Trani for the evening sun, but we had arrived at 8:30 for the morning sun and by 2:30 or so we were ready to go home. But in that time we wandered all over the city, photographed the cathedral from every imaginable angle, and had such a nice time.

If you're ever in or near Puglia, don't miss beautiful Trani. Paid parking is available on the seafront next to the castle, very close to the cathedral.