Taranto

Last stop before the next job: Taranto.
Not a long stop though as it is pretty uninteresting. Arriving from the West I traversed several kms of oil and container terminals before arriving at the old city. I found a small island covered in old apartment blocks and separated by 6ft alleys just wide enough for an Ape 50.
Rather pompously Taranto calls itself the "The City of Two Seas", as it divides what are known as Mar Grande and Mar Piccolo. In other words the Med is on one side and a small lagoon on the other.
There is a castle of course; the Aragonese Castle, also known as Castel Sant'Angelo. It is a military barracks with guided tours for the few who haven't seen enough of them.
The Mussolini inspired town hall is one of the ugliest and ill-proportioned buildings I've seen. Just in case one misses the connection, the main door is flanked by two "fasces" as carried before the legions of Rome. They used to be bundles of rods symbolising the legal authority of Rome, and so it is ironic to find it here as the Etruscans invented it in the first place !Read more