between Tradition and Innovation

A city of art recognised as such by the Apulia Region, Ruvo began its history in the Neolithic period, but the most widespread settlement forms date back to the Iron Age. From the 6th century B.C. onwards, there was a Hellenisation of the local Peucete communities, evident in the furnishings accompanying the aristocratic tombs, valuable figurative ceramics of Attic import or of local manufacture, famous throughout the world.

The town grew during the Roman period with its status as municipium, while the Romanesque cathedral was built in the Middle Ages between the 12th and 13th centuries with its peculiar accentuated slopes and its hypogeum.

In the Church of Purgatory, traces of late Roman times emerge: a cistern of a bath complex where the first Christians gathered, known as the Crypt of San Cleto.

The Castle consists of a tower of probable Norman foundation and three lower bodies arranged around an atrium, which is accessed through the Melodia Arch.

The Jatta National Archaeological Museum, with its characteristic 19th-century layout, is a treasure trove of the city's archaeological evidence. Among its more than two thousand exhibits, it preserves the extraordinary Talos crater, made at the end of the 5th century BC. Another site of cultural importance is the monumental complex of the former Dominican Convent dating back to 1560, formerly the Municipal Gallery of Contemporary Art, where the new Archaeological City Museum will be inaugurated this year.

The Clock Tower, built in 1604, has an epigraph walled into its walls that dates back to the municipal period of ancient Rubi.

Noble palaces include Palazzo Spada, Palazzo Caputi, home to the Museo del Libro - Casa della Cultura, which houses the Testini Library, and Palazzo Avitaja, home to the Town Hall, all built between the 16th and 17th centuries.

On a naturalistic level, the Vagno Caves, the most important karst system in the area, and the Alta Murgia National Park, established in 2004, of which Ruvo di Puglia is one of the thirteen municipalities that make it up, as well as the actual gateway, are worthy of note.

Among the best-known traditions is Holy Week with its processions and funeral marches performed by local bands. On Easter Sunday, the Quarantane, puppets dressed in black that in local tradition represent the wife of Carnival, are brought out.

Also well-known is the Corpus Domini Octave festival, linked to historical events in the town according to an undocumented oral tradition.

The Sagra del Fungo Cardoncello (Mushroom Festival) in November is one of the most important events in the area to promote food and wine activities.

The Patron Saint Biagio celebrations are held on 3 February. 

Talos Festival at the beginning of September is among the longest-running and most appreciated musical and multicultural festivals in Puglia, while Luci e suoni d'artista (artist lights and sounds) is a participatory public art project conceived in 2016 and already in its seventh consecutive edition.

Place to visit:

Cathedral, Saint Cleto Crypt and Purgatory Church, Jatta National Archaeological Museum, former Dominican Convent, Clock Tower, Palazzo Caputi, Alta Murgia National Park.

Photo by Enzo Paparella, Biagio Stragapede, Gaetano Armenio