- Taranto is a Port city and Naval Harbour in the Apulia Region of southern Italy. It is known as the ‘city of the two seas’, the Big Sea on the Tyrrhenian and the inland Little Sea, formed by three peninsulars.
- It was founded by Sparta in 706 BCE and became Tarentum under the Romans when they annexed Magna Graecia in 272 BCE and incorporated it into Italia.
History
- It became the pre-eminent city of Magna Graecia and by 500 BCE had an estimated population of 300,000, until it was taken by Rome after the Second Pyrrhic War in 272 BCE.
- The Name for the species of spider known as ‘Tarantula’ is derived from Taranto. Although the Tarantula spider does not inhabit the region, when the local inhabitants were bitten by a wolf-spider, they sweated out the poison by dancing a frenetic jig known as the ‘Tarantella’.
Ancient Greek Sites
- Two Columns of the Temple of Poseidon
Museums
- National Archaeological Museum of Taranto (MARTA)
- Via Cavour, 10, 74123, Taranto.
- The museum holds a large Collection of artefacts from Magna Graecia.
Roman Roads
- Via Appia
- The Via Appia was extended to Tararanto after 272 BCE.
Taranto