Bari

Bari , city (1991 pop. 342,309), capital of Bari prov. and of Apulia, S Italy, on the Adriatic Sea. It is a major seaport and an industrial and commercial center. It is connected by road, rail, and ship to other Adriatic ports and is now connected by road to Naples. Manufactures include chemicals, machinery, textiles, printed materials, and petroleum. Probably of Illyrian origin, Bari became a Greek and then a Roman colony. It later was controlled by the Goths, the Lombards, and the Byzantines. The Normans conquered Bari in 1071. The city became the chief city of Apulia, and many Crusaders sailed from there. Enfeoffed to the kingdom of Naples, Bari, during the Middle Ages, was a duchy ruled by powerful lords, including the Hohenstaufens and the Sforzas of Milan. It was badly damaged in World War II. Noteworthy buildings include the Romanesque basilica (1087-1197), a major place of pilgrimage, with relics of St. Nicholas of Bari (see Nicholas, Saint ); the Romanesque cathedral (12th cent.); and the Hohenstaufen castle (1233). The city has a university founded in 1924.

Bari, raid on. Despite Air Marshal Coningham's remark during the Italian campaign that he would regard it ‘as a personal affront and insult’ if the Luftwaffe launched any major raid, German Ju88 bombers successfully used DÜPPEL (see electronic warfare), to launch a surprise attack on this southern Italian port on the evening of 2 December 1943. They destroyed two Allied ammunition ships and fourteen others, with the loss of 39,000 tons of cargo. More than a thousand people were killed, and among the many casualties 617, of whom 83 later died, occurred when mustard gas, secretly brought to Italy aboard a US merchantman, spread across the harbour when the ship was hit. The gas, which had been deployed as a retaliatory weapon in case the Germans decided to introduce chemical warfare, covered men in the water from other sunken ships with a solution of mustard gas and oil. The crew of a US destroyer, which had picked up 30 casualties from the water, was contaminated and temporarily incapacitated. Many civilians were also killed by the gas and efforts to keep the incident a secret failed. See also air power.

Bibliography

Infield, G. , Disaster at Bari (London, 1974).