Bisceglie

Bisceglie
Bisceglie
Comune
	Comune di Bisceglie
	The harbour
	Location of Bisceglie
Country	Italy
Region	Apulia
Province	Barletta-Andria-Trani (BT)
Government
• Mayor	Francesco Carlo Spina (Scelta Civica)
Area
• Total	68.48 km2 (26.44 sq mi)
Elevation	16 m (52 ft)
Population (1 January 2014)
• Total	55,424
• Density	810/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
Demonym	Biscegliesi
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	76011
Dialing code	080
Patron saint	Sts. Maurus, Sergius and Pantaleon
Saint day	First Monday in August
Website	Official website

Bisceglie (Italian pronunciation: [biʃˈʃeʎʎe]) is a town and comune on the Adriatic Sea, with a population of c. 55,424, in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, Apulia (Italian: Puglia), in southern Italy.

History

According to one theory, in Roman times there would have been a settlement here called Vigiliae (Vigil). The modern city was founded by the Normans in the 11th century and enlarged under the Aragonese dynasty of Naples in the 15th century.

Ecclesiastical history

Around 800 AD was established a Diocese of Bisceglie.

It was suppressed on 27 June 1818, its territory and title being merged into the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Trani-Bisceglie.

Episcopal Ordinaries

(?incomplete: first centuries unavailable?)

Suffragan Bishops of Bisceglie

Apostolic Administrator (1280.04.01 – 1288.06.04) Opizzino Fieschi
Leone di Gaeta (1303? – ?)
Giovanni (1314? – ?)
Giacomo (1317? – ?)
Nicola (1320? – ?)
Bartolomeo Fiore, Dominican Order (O.P.) (1327? – ?)
Martino Sambiasi (? – death 1348)
Simone de Rayano (1348.11.05 – death 1367?)
Nicola Ricci, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) uncanonical (1387.07.19 – 1421.04.21, without papal mandate); later canonical Bishop of Krk (Croatia) (1421.04.21 – 1435)
Domenico (? – ?)
Giovanni (1390? – 1390)
Giacomo Federici, Carmelites (O. Carm.) (1391.01.04 – 1399?)
Francesco Falconi (1399? – ?)
Nicola Falconi (1413 – death 1442)
Pietro de Gravina (1442.05.23 – death 1476)
Bernardino Barbiani (1476.08.09 – 1487.08.24), later Bishop of B* (Italy) (1487.08.24 – death in ?)
Martino Madio da Tramonti (1487.08.24 – death 1507), previously Bishop of Bisaccia (Italy) (1463.04.08 – 1487.08.24)
Antonio Lupicino (1507.11.19 – 1524)
Geronimo Sifola (1524.05.11 – death 1565)
Bartolomeo Serristori (1551.07.03 – death 1555)
Giovanni Andrea Signati (1565.08.22 – 1575.09.23), later Bishop of Bisignano (Italy) (1575.09.23 – 1575.11)
Leonardo Bonaccorsi (1575.09.23 – death 1576)
Giovanni Battista Soriani, O. Carm. (1576.08.22 – death 1582.06.25)
Nicola Secadenari (1583 – death 1583.07.30)
Alessandro Cospi (1583.10.07 – death 1609.05.15)
Antonio Albergati (1609.08.03 – 1627)
Nicola Bellolatto (1627.03.08 – death 1636.07.15)
Bernardino Scala (1637.01.12 – 1643.05.28), later Bishop of Montefeltro (Italy) (1643.05.28 – death 1667.01.19)
Guglielmo Gaddi (1643.08.31 – death 1652.02.07)
Giuseppe Lomellini, Benedictines (O.S.B.) (1652.08.26 – death 1657.08.25)
Cesare Cancellotti (1658.04.01 – 1662.06.16), later Bishop of Montalto (Italy) (1662.06.16 – death 1673.06.27)
Giovanni Battista Penna, Augustinians (O.E.S.A.) (1663.04.09 – death 1664.07.02)
Francesco Antonio Ricci, Observant Friars Minor O.F.M. Obs. (1664.09.15 – death 1685.04.28)
Giuseppe Crispino (1685.09.10 – death 1690.11.13)
Pompeo Sarnelli (1692.02.17 – death 1724.07.07)
Antonio Pacicco, O.F.M. (1724.09.11 – death 1739.03)
Francesco Antonio de Leonardis (1739.07.15 – death 1762), previously Bishop of Trevico (1733.05.11 – 1739.07.15)
Antonio Giannelli (1762.11.22 – death 1783)
Salvatore Palica, Celestines O.S.B. Cel. (1792.03.26 – 1800)

Main sights

Cathedral (13th century)
Church of Santa Margherita, in Romanesque-Apulian style (12th century), with fine canopied tombs of the Falcone family^[4]
Norman castle and tower
Abbey of S. Adoeno (11th century)
grottoes of Santa Croce
4 dolmens