a cura della prof.ssa Lucia Maiullari

Altamura is located in the south-east of Italy in the region of Apulia. It’s 45 km far from Bari and only 25 km from Matera the city famous for the Sassi belonging to the Unesco patrimony.

The town has got 70.000 people and it belongs to the territory of the national park of alta murgia.

It was built on a hill 477 metres on the level sea. Its name means high walls because it was

sourronded by hight stone walls whose ruins can be visited still todey.

Altamura

Altamura

The cloister represents a peculiar town planning typology in Altamura. It is a mixture between a Greek courtyard and an It derives from the Latin claustrum and means closed. It fact there is no exit. The entrance is narrow and has got an arch that may be closed with a main door, leading to a rectangular square or to an irregular open space.The architectural plan of that time considered the growing population: Latins, Greeke, Jews, Saracens. In each cloister there was one of these homogeneous ethnic groups.The four main streets, in the shape of a Greek cross divided the city into four areas with four gates which closed the city like a fortress. The main streets were connected by narrow streets which branched off towards the cloister.

Altamura and the cloisters

Altamura and the cloisters

Altamura and the cloisters

Altamura and the cloisters

The Cathedral of AltamuraAltamura Cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the city of Altamura, in Apulia, in southern Italy.It was built by Emperor Frederick II in 1232, and became one of the most venerated sanctuaries in Apulia. In 1248, under pressure from Frederick, Pope Innocent IV declared Altamura exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishop of Bari, making it a "palatine" church, one of four in Apulia. The current orientation of the church is opposite to the original one, although it is not known if the change dates to Robert of Anjou's reign (early 14th century) or to the enlargement carried out in 1521-1547. The northern portal dates from Robert's time, while the second bell tower, the altar area and the sacristy were added in the 16th century. From the 18th century are the upper parts of thetwo bell towers and the small loggia between them.

The Cathedral of Altamura

The Cathedral of Altamura

The Cathedral of Altamura

The Cathedral of Altamura

The Cathedral of Altamura

The Man of AltamuraOn October 7th, 1993 it was accidentally discovered '"Man of Altamura", only remnants of the human skeleton intact middle and lower Paleolithic.

The findings discovered in the cave of Lamalunga is one of the greatest paleontological discoveries. The excellent state of preservation, the integrity of the specimen, the absence of deformation, and the presence of the skull, whole, represent a good opportunity for a better understanding and definition of the mechanisms of evolution that led to the population of Europe and the cycle Neanderthal . The skeleton is in fact attributable to an adult male height of 160 to 165 cm, the skull has both the archaic features that these morphological transformations, settle himself in Neanderthal populations, allowing you to place it in the group of fossils from the Middle Pleistocene European or between the forms of Homo erectus (400,000 years ago) and the typical forms of the Neanderthals (85,000 years ago), in a transition that is, estimated to be about 200,000 years ago.

The Man of Altamura“Ciccillo”

The quarry of dinosaursIn places Pontrelli, were discovered in 1999 on an area of twelve thousand square meters, about thirty thousand dinosaur footprints. The importance of this discovery (currently this is the site richest and most important in Europe and perhaps the world) is i the great biodiversity that characterized the individuals present at the same time in the same place.

The footprints date back to the Late Cretaceous, between 70 and 80 million years ago, when the climate in Puglia was kind of tropical (hot and humid), and indicate the presence of more than two hundred animals, belonging to at least five different groups of dinosaurs, herbivores and carnivores also.

The quarry of dinosaursThe size of the prints range from 5-6 cm up to 40-45 cm, suggesting that it faces to animals as high as 10 meters. In many prints you can even read the folds of the skin. This exceptional state of preservation of the footprints is most likely due to the presence of a wetland from the muddy bottom, with carpets of algae that have led to the hardening of the impression. In many fingerprint is in fact still visible the small wave of mud generated at the moment when the animal has the paw resting on the ground. From fingerprint reader and especially the slopes, or a series of at least three consecutive footfalls, or three pairs hand - foot in the case of four-legged animals, leave from the same animal in motion, it appears as gaits are normal, no signs of panic , reflecting the fact that it was a normal movement of animals while grazing peacefully in a presumably lagoon.The amount of fingerprints and their sizes you can easily realize the really large amount of vegetables that had to be present on site to meet the survival needs of many animals.

One of the tracks identified belongs to a Ceropode (herbivorous dinosaur, quadruped, of medium tonnage): it reveals an uncertainty of its development, perhaps a sudden change of pace, to avoid an obstacle or suddenly change direction.

The quarry of dinosaurs

The quarry of dinosaurs

The quarry of dinosaurs

BreadThe Altamura bread is a bakery product Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) coming from the town of Altamura. This is a typical Pugliese bread made from a dough of durum wheat semolina very rich in gluten (arrives up to 14%), sourdough and baked in the oven.

Bread

Bread

Bread

MuseumThe Municipal Museum was founded in Altamura in 1891 and although having its ups and downs survived until 1909, the year in which due to: “the city’s lack of interest for the needs of the institution” it was permanently shut down.

Following important archaeological discoveries behind the old town area, at the end of the 1950’s, due to the lively construction activity generated by the post-war economic revival, the idea of an Archaeological Museum was revived by a few erudite individuals from the city’s Municipal Library and Archive. Excavations had been carried out already on the site of La Croce since 1960 and the decision to locate the new museum on the archaeological site was made immediately. Construction of the building began in 1964 and was completed in 1978.

Museum

Museum

Saverio MercadanteGiuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante (baptised 17 September 1795 – 17 December 1870) was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizzetti or Gioacchino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of operatic structures, melodic styles and orchestration contributed significantly to the foundations upon which Giuseppe Verdi built his dramatic technique

Saverio Mercadante

Theater Mercadante On 27 October 1894, during a meeting of the Municipal

Council of Altamura, initiatives were established to pay tribute to Francis Xavier

Mercadante the centenary of his birth, which runs throughout September 17 of the following year. A group of notables formed, on this occasion, a committee for the construction of a plant to devote to theater musician Altamura.

In January 1895 was drafted the Statute of the Consortium whose members, through a subscription, made sure, in relation to the amount paid, the property of a platform or a seat in the audience. The commitment of the members was to build the theater in just 7 months. Of the three projects presented by engineers Altamura De Nora, Miglionico and Striccoli, was chosen the one proposed by the latter. The site indicated wide Bakers in Port Matera, close to the garden and Cagnazzi High School, was a free land owned by the city, beyond the ancient walls with the ability to build wide roads around the building, comfortable for 'public access.

Theater Mercadante In its report, Striccoli did not fail to draw the attention even the

aesthetic value of the chosen area: "What the site in question aesthetically may contain a theater,

it is indisputable and sufficient to prove, not only the project of accommodation that we present, but the proximity of a public landscape, a beautiful large settled, that other temple of education , which is the Board Cagnazzi and, what is more than all, the smile of nature, which is the most picturesque view that claims our city. "

Eng. Vincenzo Striccoli, math teacher at the local High School and director of the Municipal Technical Office, offered his services free. At 17, March 25, 1895, was laid the first stone of the theater, which, in its main building, was completed in time to be inaugurated on 17 September of the same year.

Theater Mercadante

Theater Mercadante

Our school Our school is named after TOMMASO FIORE

(Altamura 1884 - Bari 1973)He was a great humanist and politician. Democratic interventionist at the outbreak of the 1st World War in '20 was one of the founders of the Movement of Fighters. Always fought for autonomy and federalism Southern Italy, and alongside Salvemini worked intensely against the transformation and degeneration of public life. He collaborated with "Liberal Revolution" and "The Fourth Estate" Nenni and Rosselli formulated a socialist program for the noon

Our schoolThe State School Secondary Grade I "Tommaso Fiore" Altamura (Ba) was established in 1975 by decree n ° 5620-2D 02.07.1975. The current building, built in 1989, is equipped with wide green spaces, is luminous and divided into three levels, presents no architectural barriers and lift, meets the current safety regulations.September 1, 2012, Dr. Eufemia Patella, Headmistress of IV Didactic St. Giovanni Bosco Altamura, assumed the regency of our school.

Our schoolEDUCATIONAL PURPOSES :

-INDEPENDENCE, understood as a gradual transition from dependency to a gradual assumption of increasing responsibility.-SELF-ESTEEM, such as self-awareness in order to enhance their skills and to make independent and informed decisions.-RESPECT OF PERSON, as acceptance of self and others, of their own and others things.-SOLIDARITY, a sharing of responsibility, awareness of the same purposes to be achieved and consequent willingness to help each other.-TOLERANCE, such as acceptance of diversity and respect for the rights of all.-PARTICIPATION, as the ability to closely monitor the activities, to offer willingly and responsibly ideas.-LEARNING MOTIVATION, as a necessary condition for starting long learning.

Our school

Our school

Our school

Tommaso FioreTommaso Fiore (Altamura, March 7, 1884 - Bari, June 4, 1973) was an Italian writer and politician. Born into a working class family, after his classical studies at the university, became a teacher in the high school classics. Meridionalista convinced of the socialist always fought for autonomy and federalism Southern Italy, he was leading a group of young intellectuals and supervised the conditions of the South and, in particular, those of the peasants. Became the mayor of Altamura in 1920 and was a radical opponent of Fascism. He was imprisoned in 1942 and in 1943 to the intense anti-fascist propaganda.He collaborated with "The liberal revolution" of Piero Gobetti and "Fourth State" of Pietro Nenni and Carlo Rosselli, where he published a socialist program for the South.He lost his son Graziano in the “Massacre of Bari” on 28 July 1943.In 1948, he introduced Senate candidate in the constituency of Altamura. But voters preferred Giacinto Genco, notable Democrat.Immediately after the war was in charge of the teaching of Latin letters in the university studies of Bari and was also superintendent studies.

Tommaso Fiore

Music: Saverio Mercadante – Il Montanaro - Sinfonia

By Vi t o B ord o