Bari

Bari: history & character

Bari, capital of Puglia, was founded by the Peucetii and later colonised by Rome as Barium. In the Middle Ages it became a major Adriatic trading port and a pilgrimage centre after the translation of the relics of Saint Nicholas of Myra in 1087. Today a city of 315,000 (1.2 million metropolitan area), Bari combines a fortified medieval heart, Bari Vecchia, wrapped around the 11th-century Basilica of San Nicola (a shared Orthodox and Catholic pilgrimage site), with a 19th-century neoclassical grid, the Murat quarter, laid out under Joachim Murat during the French occupation. The city offers 4 km of seafront promenade, the Lungomare Nazario Sauro, the longest in Italy, and three large urban parks with official off-leash zones opened since 2020 (Parco 2 Giugno, Parco Rossani). A capital of Puglian peasant cooking (orecchiette, focaccia barese, tiella di riso patate e cozze), Bari welcomes leashed dogs at nearly every terrace osteria, runs three 24/7 veterinary hospitals (a rare density for southern Italy), and offers direct train links to the dog-friendly coastal towns of Polignano a Mare (35 min), Monopoli (45 min) and Alberobello (UNESCO, via connection). One practical point to know: AMTAB city buses currently ban medium and large dogs, so plan to walk (the centre is 2 km across) or take a taxi.