Overview
Halfway between Barletta and Canosa di Puglia, on 2 August 216 BC Hannibal inflicted one of the greatest defeats in ancient Rome's history, defeating an army much larger than his own and taking some 10,000 soldiers as prisoner. More precisely, the battle was fought on the hills of the Roman city of Canne, today Canne della Battaglia. Documented from the 6th century BC, the city was destroyed by barbarian invasions and re-populated from the Byzantine to the Angevin period. Today, the area of the Roman city is protected by the Archaeological Park of Canne della Battaglia, which has its educational and museum centre in the Antiquarium. In addition to reconstructing the battle with multimedia tools, the Antiquarium exhibits finds from prehistoric and Apulian settlements discovered below or in the immediate vicinity of the Roman city and some medieval testimonies. A terracotta mother goddess from the 5th millennium BC stands out. In the archaeological area, you can walk along the main street of the city, bordered by buildings and embellished with columns and cippus; at the highest point of the hill, from where the view sweeps over the entire Ofanto valley, stood two Christian basilicas.
