On the highest point of Bari Vecchia, a small stone fortress has watched over the old port and the fishermen's boats for centuries. This is the Fortino di Sant'Antonio, the sentinel the people of Bari tore down and then saw reborn.
A watchtower already guarded this corner of the sea in the Middle Ages. In the 1400s a feudal lord turned it into a small castle, but to the Baresi it was the symbol of a power they could not stand, and a few decades later it was pulled down. Duchess Isabella of Aragon had the tower rebuilt in the early 1500s, and in the second half of the century the fort took on a look very close to today's. Abandoned in the 19th century, it was restored by the City and now hosts exhibitions and talks. A tip from the locals? Come at sunset: on one side the walls of the old town, on the other the seafront, and below you the colourful gozzi boats of the Molo Sant'Antonio.
