In less than a century the area of Bari has increased more than tenfold. Its population has grown from 34.000 in 1861 to 400.000 today. A long, straight road, the wide and well-lit Corso Vittorio Emanuele, divides the city into two distinct parts as if drawing  the boundaries between two different periods in history. The memory of the courage of Medieval sailors lives on today in the maze of alleys and courtyards that characterises the Old Town, which jealousy guards its renowned monuments. It stands in stark contrast to the industrious, dynamic, modern city , with its long, wide roads along which have risen the many buildings which bear testimony to the city's prodigious urban development.

Walking along a stretch of the Imperatore Augusto Promenade we come to the Basilica of St. Nicholas. This is one of the most important examples of Romanesque architecture in Apulia. The building of the Basilica was commissioned by Abbot Elia in 1087 to preserve the remains of St. Nicholas and was finished in 1197. Continuing along the Imperatore Augusto Promenade and then taking the Corso Senatore De Tullio we come to Castello Svevo, built by Frederick II on the site of  Norman ruins; the internal plan of the castle and the two massive ashlar towers reflect the influence of Norman architecture. It housed the magnificent court of Isabelle of Aragon e Bona Sforza, who had the large bulwarks with angular spear-shaped towers built in 1500, overlooking the moat. Walking down a medieval alleyway you come to the Cathedral, an excellent example of 12th century Romanesque Apulian architecture. Other churches of historical and artistic interest in the Old town are  the Convent of St. Benedict; St. Mark's; St. Augustine's; the Vallisa; and the Church of  Jesus. The Archway of Marvels and Nicolo' Puccini's house are also worth visiting. Going back towards the Castle and from Piazza Isabella D'Aragona, home to the Revenue Office, we can just see Corso Vittorio Veneto, at the very end of which stands the Fiera del levante, which in the wake of Bari's mercantile tradition, today represents a measure of the powerful economic and industrial development of the South. In Corso Vittorio Emanuele you can see the monument dedicated to Nicolo' Puccini and the Town hall.

From here you can go down Via Sparano and admire its luxurious and elegant shops. At the end of Via Sparano you come to the main University building and the Archaeological Museum, which amongst other things houses an impressive collection of finds, including Greek and Apulian vases. Here you can also admire the monument to King Umberto I, work of the sculptor Antonio Cifariello. The city's railway station is situated in Piazza Moro, with its monumental fountain built by the Apulian Waterworks. From here we can see Piazza Mercantile, with its "Sedile", the ancient seat of Bari's Council of Nobles, and the Column of Justice, to which fraudulent debtors used to be tied as punishment. We can now get back onto the Nazario Sauro Promenade for a wonderful walk along the sea front. Immediately to the left is St. Nicholas' Pier where, every year on the morning of May 8^th an important ceremony is held and the statue of the saint is taken out to sea under the watchful eyes of devotees and pilgrims. Here it is also the typical cove of " ' nderre to the lanze ", popular place of tasting of fruits of sea.

Bari's economy, and particularly its industrial economy, is well established and continues to develop. However to get an overall picture of the area we must also look north of Bari to the large urban centres and then further inland to the scarcely inhabited countryside with its dry stone walling dividing the fields and delimiting land. Here we can admire the "masserie", charming examples of spontaneous architecture. These masserie are real monuments and at one time also played a defensive role; their structure and form imitate that of real castles. South of Bari, on the other hand, the countryside is mainly divided up into small allotments and is intensively farmed by "contadini" , who either own the land or rent it. In this part of the province the small villages offer admirable examples of vernacular architecture.