Brindisi is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an important role in trade and culture, due to its strategic position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city remains a major port for trade with Greece and the Middle East. Its industries include agriculture, chemical works, and the generation of electricity.

Geography

Brindisi is situated on a natural harbor, which penetrates deeply into the Adriatic coast of Apulia. Within the arms of the outer harbor islands is Pedagne, a tiny archipelago, currently not open and in use for military purposes (United Nations Group Schools used during the intervention in Bosnia). The entire municipality is part of the Brindisi Plain, characterized by high agricultural uses of its land. It is located in the northeastern part of the Salento plains, about 40 kilometers (25 mi) from the Itria Valley, and the low Murge. Not far from the city is the Natural Marine Reserve of the World Wide Fund for Nature of Torre Guaceto. The Ionian Sea is about 45 kilometers (28 mi) away.

Territory

The territory of Brindisi is characterized by a wide flat area from which emerge sub deposits of limestone and sand of marine origin, which in turn have a deeper level clay of the Pleistocene era and an even later Mesozoic carbonate composed of limestone and soils. The development of agriculture has caused an increase in the use of water resources resulting in an increase of indiscriminate use.

Climate

Brindisi enjoys a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa). Summers are hot and sometimes humid with abundant sunshine. Summer heat indexes can be regularly over 30 °C (86 °F) and occasionally as high as 37 °C during July and August. Winters are mild with frequent rain. Brindisi and the mostly topographically flat Salento peninsula is subject to light winds during the majority of the year. The two main winds in Salento are the Bora and the Sirocco. The northerly Bora wind from the Adriatic sea is cooling, moderating summer heat and increasing winter wind chill. The southerly Sirocco wind from the Sahara brings higher temperatures and humidity to Salento. During spring and autumn, Sirocco winds can bring thunderstorms, occasionally dropping red sand from the Sahara in the region. Snow is rare in Brindisi but occurred during the January 2017 cold spell which brought snow and ice to much of southern Italy.

History

Ancient times

There are several traditions concerning its founders; one of them claims that it was founded by the legendary hero Diomedes.
Brindisi was an Ancient Greek settlement predating the Roman expansion. The Latin name Brundisium comes from the Greek Brentesion (Βρεντήσιον) meaning "deer's head," which refers to the shape of the natural harbor. In 267 BC (245 BC, according to other sources) it was conquered by the Romans. In the promontory of the Punta lands, which is located in the outer harbor have been identified as a Bronze Age village (16th century BC) where a group of huts, protected by an embankment of stones, yielded fragments of Mycenaean pottery. Herodotus spoke of the Mycenaean origin for these populations. The necropolis of Tor Pisana (south of the old town of Brindisi) returned Corinthian jars in the first half of the 7th century BC. The Brindisi Messapia certainly entertained strong business relationships with the opposite side of the Adriatic and the Greek populations of the Aegean Sea.
After the Punic Wars, it became a major center of Roman naval power and maritime trade. In the Social War, it received Roman citizenship and was made a free port by Sulla. It suffered, however, from a siege conducted by Caesar in 49 BC (Bell. Civ. i.) and was again attacked in 42 and 40 BC.
The poet Pacuvius was born here about 220 BC, and here the famous poet Virgil died in 19 BC. Under the Romans, Brundisium – a large city in its day with some 100,000 inhabitants – was an active port, the chief point of embarkation for Greece and the East, via Dyrrachium or Corcyra. It was connected with Rome by the Via Appia and the Via Traiana. The termination of the

Via Appia

, at the water's edge, was formerly flanked by two fine pillars. Only one remains, the second having been misappropriated and removed to the neighboring town of

Lecce

.

Middle Ages and modern times

Later Brindisi was conquered by Ostrogoths, and reconquered by the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century CE. In 674 it was destroyed by the Lombards led by Romuald I of Benevento, but such a fine natural harbor meant that the city was soon rebuilt. In the 9th century, a Saracen settlement existed in the neighborhood of the city, which had been stormed in 836 by pirates.
In 1070, it was conquered by the Normans and became part of the Principality of Taranto and the Duchy of Apulia, and was the first rule of the Counts of Conversano and then, after the baronial revolt of 1132, city-owned by the will of Roger II of Sicily, the city recovered some of the splendor of the past during the period of the Crusades, when it regained the Episcopal See, saw the construction of the new cathedral and a castle with an important new arsenal, became a privileged port for the Holy Land. It was in the cathedral of Brindisi that the wedding of Norman Prince Roger III of Sicily took place, son of King Tancred of Sicily. Emperor Frederick II, the heir to the crown of Jerusalem and Isabella of Brienne ( 9 November 1225 ), started from the port of Brindisi in 1227 for the Sixth Crusade Like other Pugliese ports, Brindisi for a short while was ruled by Venice but was soon reconquered by Spain.
A plague and an earthquake struck the city, in 1348 and 1456.
Brindisi fell to Austrian rule in 1707–1734, and afterward to the Bourbons. Between September 1943 and February 1944 the city functioned as the temporary capital of Italy.
Brindisi is also noteworthy because it hosted King Victor Emmanuel III, Pietro Badoglio and a part of the Italian armed forces command in September 1943 after the armistice with Italy.
In the 21st century, Brindisi serves as the home base of the San Marco Regiment, a marine brigade originally known as the La Marina Regiment. It was renamed San Marco after its noted defense of Venice at the start of World War I.