The best traffic-free bike rides around Bitetto

The "Torre del marchese Arcamone" is a fortified two-storey farmhouse whose last phase is certainly from the modern age, which has on the ground floor rooms for stables, warehouses and an oil mill. But what is its history and why is the district called this way? In 1399 the king of Naples, Louis, ceded the barony of Bitetto together with the fief of Ceglie and Bari, for having fought bravely in a war near Taranto, to Marcello Arcamone. Since 1382, during the reign of Charles III, he had come to Puglia with his brother Lionello, who had been given the Lordship of Ceglie. The Arcamone family lived in Bitetto for a long time. In 1407 Pope Martin V transferred Bishop the son of Marcello, Carlo Arcamone, from his seat in Venafro to Bitetto. The farm had many changes of ownership and in 1806, already belonging to the Noja family of Mola, it was confiscated for the abolition of the feudal regime.

Bitetto ist known for the presence of the remains of Blessed Giacomo , a lay friar who died in the odor of sanctity, whose body has remained intact over the centuries. The main monument of the town, the church of San Michele Arcangelo is one of the purest examples of Apulian Romanesque . The epigraph near the portal reveals that the facade was built in 1335 by Mastro Lillo da Barletta on commission from Bishop Bonocore, who wanted to rebuild the city temple on the site of an older cathedral. Bitetto had in fact been a diocesan seat since the 11th century . Oriented according to ancient custom with the presbytery to the east, the church has a severe façade divided into three parts by pilasters and equipped with a large archivolted rose window . Of the three portals, the central one is characterized by a rich sculptural apparatus: two stone lions, crouched on mighty corbels, support columns with capitals with vegetal motifs that support a lunette with bas-reliefs of Christ and the twelve Apostles. The external jambs instead present scenes from the New Testament. The interior, which was heavily plastered in the eighteenth century and was restored to its original Romanesque style in 1959 , is divided into three naves by triple-order wall partitions, where the double-arched arches are surmounted by false matronei and higher up by single-lancet windows. The transept has three apses according to the stylistic features of Apulian Romanesque. The fourteenth-century body is flanked on both sides by two eighteenth-century chapels, that of Purgatory (on the left) and that of the Blessed Sacrament (on the right). Outside, the bell tower, also dating back to the eighteenth century, rests on the Romanesque façade with a typical gabled structure.

The gate owes its name to the underground cisterns used to collect rainwater. For a long time it was one of the main accesses to the old, fortified city, where most of the population lived until the early 18th century.

Going up towards Casamassima you face a short climb on a splendid road completely covered in stones, at the top there is a small clearing where you can stop for a couple of photos and enjoy the view. From there it is possible to continue in other directions or go downhill on the same road.

Downhill run of about 20 metres, not too technical. pay attention to the stones that could move

Gateway to the village of Bitetto

Little is known of its origins with the exception of the patrons, Lucrezia d'uso and her brother, portrayed in a fresco inside the church

Lovely place..keep silence