Canosa di Puglia

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Canosa di Puglia (känô´zä dē pōō´lyä), Lat. Canusium, city (1991 pop. 31,240), Apulia, S Italy, on the Ofanto River. It is a commercial and agricultural center. The city flourished under the Romans and was noted for its wool and its fine vases, many of which have been unearthed in nearby tombs (3d and 4th cent. BC). The Romans fled to Canusium after their disastrous defeat by Hannibal at nearby Cannae (216 BC). The city was destroyed by the Arabs in the 9th cent. but was resettled by the Normans in the 11th cent. There are other Roman remains, including walls, an amphitheater, and a gate. The city also has an 11th-century Romanesque cathedral and the mausoleum of the Norman leader Bohemond I (d. 1111), which has fine sculptured bronze doors.

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