What to see in Brindisi 68 places, on foot.
The old town can be explored on foot in a day: Romanesque churches, castles on the harbour, the columns where the Via Appia ended. Below, every place with how long it takes and what's nearby.
Monuments
Aldo Moro Monument
In the middle of the roundabout stands the monument to Aldo Moro and the men of his escort killed in Via Fani. It was commissioned by the city in 1979 and made by Marcello Avenali the following year.
Basilian Crypt
Beneath the church of Santa Lucia you go down into the Basilian crypt, one of the oldest spaces in Brindisi: it dates from the eighth century.
Clock Tower
On the morning of 13 February 1956 a group of workmen climbed the Clock Tower and began to demolish it, as the people of Brindisi watched in disbelief.
Collegio Navale Tommaseo
The large building of the Collegio Navale Tommaseo was founded as a school of the Gioventù Italiana del Littorio: it prepared boys with classical and scientific high-school courses and a naval track, almost like an…
Crypt of the Monumento al Marinaio
Beneath the great rudder of the Monumento al Marinaio lies a quiet place many visitors don't expect: the crypt-shrine.
First World War Memorial
The First World War memorial rises in Piazza Santa Teresa. It is in white Carrara marble, the work of the Brindisi sculptor Edgardo Simone. It had a troubled journey.
House of Virgil
According to tradition, Virgil lived and died here. Brindisi, then the land of the Calabri, is also where, according to legend, Aeneas landed, and Brindisi's writers have always pointed to this as the poet's house.
Loggia Balsamo
In Piazza Duomo, look up at the façade of a fourteenth-century palazzo: the Loggia Balsamo is a balcony supported by corbels above two pointed arches.
Molo Catene
The Molo Catene owes its name to a medieval defence system. In 1301, under Charles II of Anjou, two towers were built on either side of the Pigonati canal, linked by a chain: with a geared mechanism it was pulled taut…
Monument to Virgil
In the gardens of Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II stands the marble statue dedicated to Virgil, by the Lombard artist Floriano Bodini.
Monumento al Marinaio d'Italia
The Monumento al Marinaio d'Italia is the rudder, about 53 metres high, that you can see from all over the harbour.
Plaque to the Partisan Vincenzo Antonio Brigante
A plaque commemorates the partisan Vincenzo Antonio Brigante.
Pozzo Traiano (Trajan's Well)
You won't see Trajan's Well: it lies a couple of metres below the paving, in the middle of the little square, where today there is just a manhole cover.
Roman Columns
The Roman Columns are the symbol of Brindisi: you'll find them on the rise overlooking the port, where the Via Appia ended, the road linking Rome to the city and to trade with the East.
Castles and fortifications
Bastione Carlo V
The Bastione Carlo V stands beside Porta Mesagne. Ferdinand of Aragon began it and Giovanni Battista Loffredo completed it in 1551, as the inscription on the south-west corner records.
Bastione San Giacomo
The San Giacomo bastion was born with the fortifications ordered by Frederick II and was rebuilt in the sixteenth century by the Aragonese to withstand artillery.
Bastione San Giorgio
Nothing is left of the San Giorgio bastion: it stood here, where the entrance to Brindisi Centrale station and the big car park are today.
Castello Alfonsino (Sea Castle)
The Alfonsino Castle, or Sea Castle, occupies the island of Sant'Andrea at the harbour entrance. Its shape is irregular because it follows the outline of the rock, and collapses and rebuilding have made it even more…
Castello Svevo (Swabian Castle)
The Swabian Castle, also called the Castello di Terra, looks over the inner harbour from the edge of the old town.
Porta Lecce
Porta Lecce was the way in for those arriving from the south. Ferdinand of Aragon built it in 1464 and Charles V strengthened it in 1530: his coat of arms is in the middle, between that of Brindisi on the right and that…
Porta Mesagne
Porta Mesagne, once called Porta Napoli, is the oldest gate in Brindisi. It dates from 1243, when Frederick II enlarged the city and gave it new walls, with a triumphal gate as the main entrance.
Porta Monsignore
Porta Monsignore leads to the road running along the west side of the Seno di Ponente. Unfortunately the area is reserved for the Navy and is usually closed to the public: you can only walk it on rare occasions, and for…
Porta Reale
Porta Reale stood here, the gate that closed the city off from the sea: the sea brought trade, but also the risk of invasion.
Porta Thaon de Revel
A gate dedicated to Admiral Thaon de Revel, at the entrance to the Sciabiche quarter.
Torrione dell'Inferno
The Torrione dell'Inferno is a round tower from 1484, designed by Antonio Acquaviva. It was one of the responses to the Turkish invasion of Otranto, which pushed King Ferdinand I to renew the city's defences.
Walls of Brindisi
Brindisi has had walls for more than two thousand years: the Messapians began them, the Romans continued them, they were extended in the Middle Ages and strengthened first by the Angevins and then by the Aragonese.
Churches
Brindisi Cathedral
The Cathedral, dedicated to the Visitation and to Saint John the Baptist, is the heart of Piazza Duomo. It was consecrated in 1089 and completed in 1143, but the earthquake of 1743 badly damaged it, and what you see is…
Chiesa del Cristo
The Church of Christ, also called the Church of the Crucifix or of San Domenico, was founded in 1232 by the Dominican friar Nicola Paglia of Giovinazzo.
Chiesa della Pietà
The church of the Pietà has ancient origins, perhaps 1260, but nothing remains of the first building. In 1566 it passed to the Capuchins, who built the convent of the Annunziata beside it;
Chiesa delle Anime
In Piazza delle Anime stands a church with two names. It was dedicated to Saint Sebastian, but everyone in Brindisi calls it the Church of the Souls, because this is where people come to pray for their dead.
Church of San Benedetto
San Benedetto is one of the finest Romanesque churches in the city, and it is still open for worship. Today it is a rectory church of the Cathedral parish.
Church of San Paolo Eremita
San Paolo Eremita is a Gothic church built in the fourteenth century by the Franciscans together with their convent, with funds from Robert of Anjou.
Church of Sant'Anna
Small and unassuming, the church of Sant'Anna is one of the oldest in Brindisi. A document of 1343 already mentions the place name "Sancta Anna", though that alone doesn't prove the church existed at the time.
Church of Santa Lucia
Santa Lucia is an eleventh-century church with a simple gabled façade. The interior is divided into three naves by very low arches, added together with the Baroque altars;
Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli
Santa Maria degli Angeli is one of the churches of Brindisi's old town, a few steps from the other sights in the area.
Church of Santa Maria del Casale
Santa Maria del Casale is a little outside the centre, towards the Casale quarter, but it is one of the most beautiful churches in Brindisi and well worth the detour. It has been a national monument since 1875.
Church of Santa Maria del Monte
Santa Maria del Monte is a very old church: an official document of 1231 already mentions it. Over the centuries it has come through earthquakes, periods of neglect, alterations and reductions in size, and on 7 November…
Church of Santa Teresa
Santa Teresa faces its namesake square with a restrained Baroque façade in carparo stone, with only a few stone features: niches, pinnacles, scrolls.
Church of the Madonna della Scala
In the quarter that belonged to the Amalfitan colony in the twelfth century, a small church hides among the houses, the same colour as the façades around it: the Madonna della Scala.
Greek Church
Brindisi's Greek Orthodox church is the heir to a long presence: from this port, which looks naturally towards Greece, the Orthodox community never left, and it also included Albanians and Slavs.
Historic sites
Fishermen's Village
The Fishermen's Village, in the Casale quarter, was designed in 1938 by the engineer Ugo D'Alonzo and completed in 1959.
Portico of the Knights Templar
In Piazza Duomo, two Gothic arches in carparo stone divided by a column of Greek marble: this is the Portico of the Knights Templar. Beneath it are two cross vaults with two-coloured ribs.
San Pietro degli Schiavoni Archaeological Area
Beneath the Teatro Verdi lies a piece of Roman Brindisi. The archaeological area of San Pietro degli Schiavoni, in dialect San Pietru dilli Scauni, takes its name from the quarter that had a church dedicated to the…
Sciabbiche
The Sciabiche was the fishermen's quarter, where they spread out and mended the sciabica, their net, in the street. The houses are gone now, but the name remains.
Tempio di San Giovanni al Sepolcro
San Giovanni al Sepolcro is one of Brindisi's most unusual monuments: a round Romanesque church built by the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre and first mentioned before 1128.
Vasche Limarie
The Vasche Limarie were the last section of the Roman aqueduct: the water came from the Pozzo di Vito, about 10 kilometres west, along a gently sloping underground channel. This is where it was cleaned.
Via Casimiro Archaeological Area
In Via Casimiro, at the foot of a building and behind a railing, is a small archaeological area that many people walk past without noticing. The remains date from the second century BC to the second century AD.
Historic palaces
Archbishop's Palace
The palazzo that houses the archdiocesan curia of Brindisi.
Archbishop's Seminary
The Archbishop's Seminary in Piazza Duomo is the finest example of Baroque in Brindisi. It was commissioned by Archbishop Paolo de Villana Perlas and designed by Mauro Manieri of Lecce;
Convent of Santa Chiara
An old convent dedicated to Saint Clare.
Former Orphanage
A historic building that once housed an orphanage.
Former Scuole Pie Convent
The former Scuole Pie convent includes the church of Saint Michael the Archangel, recognisable by its dome covered in coloured majolica tiles, now used as an auditorium and exhibition space.
Grande Albergo Internazionale
The Grande Albergo Internazionale was born in the nineteenth century with the Indian Mail, the steamship line that from 1870 to 1914 linked London and Bombay by way of Brindisi.
Palazzo de Marzo
Palazzo De Marzo takes its name from the family that bought it as their home in the first half of the eighteenth century. At the time it was surrounded by three streets and a private garden;
Palazzo di Città (Town Hall)
The Palazzo di Città, the seat of the city council, was originally the convent of the Dominicans of the Maddalena.
Palazzo Granafei Nervegna
Palazzo Granafei-Nervegna is a sixteenth-century palazzo built for the Marquises Granafei, later owned by the Nervegna family and finally by the city. Over time it also housed foreign trade and consular missions.
Palazzo Guerrieri
Palazzo Guerrieri is an eighteenth-century palazzo that for years housed council offices. It stands out for the portal framed by two columns supporting the first-floor balcony, and for its coat of arms split in two: on…
Palazzo Montenegro
Palazzo Montenegro is a Baroque palazzo from the second half of the seventeenth century. It was built by a merchant family from Montenegro who, in Brindisi, changed their surname from Petrovich to Montenegro.
Palazzo Ripa
On Via Carmine stands Palazzo Ripa, a sixteenth-century noble house with clean, symmetrical lines. It is named after the family that owned it: Giovanni Leonardo Ripa, mayor in 1588 and 1589, lived here.
Palazzo Scalmafora
Palazzo Scalmafora tells the story of a revolt. In the seventeenth century Brindisi was under Spain, amid misgovernment, plague and taxes paid only by the common people, since the nobility and clergy were exempt.
Fountains
De Torres Fountain
The De Torres fountain in Piazza della Vittoria is one of the oldest in the city: it was built in 1618 by the Spanish governor Pietro Luigi De Torres, after whom it is named.
Dolphin Fountain
The Dolphin Fountain stands in the gardens of Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, near the port. It dates from 1876 and was part of the nineteenth-century work on the aqueduct;
Fontana dell'Impero
The Fontana dell'Impero, also called the Fountain of Victor Emmanuel III or Fontana Grassi, is a work from the early decades of the twentieth century, between rationalism and monumentalism.
Fontana di Grisostamo
The Fontana di Grisostamo, also called the Conserva, is today a small fountain with a capasone, the large earthenware jar. Not even historians know for sure where the original stood.
Fountain of the Anchors
In the middle of Piazza Cairoli, the Fountain of the Anchors is hard to miss. It was built in 1937 by the Acquedotto Pugliese, in Trani stone, in place of a smaller fountain known as the fountain of the frogs.
Tancredi Fountain
The Tancredi fountain stands at the edge of the city, on the road to San Vito that follows the ancient Via Traiana.
Landmarks
Motobarca (harbour boat)
The motobarca is the most Brindisi way to cross the harbour. It links the centre to the Casale quarter, and it was already running in 1897, when the priest Pasquale Camassa, in his guide to Brindisi, described the Santa…
Stazione Succursale
The great British steamers of the Indian Mail docked at this quay: the mail and passenger line that, between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, linked Great Britain with India, China and Australia.