The Underground City of Taranto

The old town of Taranto rests upon itself: an island of calcarenite dug downward even before it grew upward, where every cellar, quarry and crypt tells a piece of history. This itinerary takes you beneath the surface, through the Byzantine rock-cut city, the stereobate of the Doric temple hidden beneath San Domenico, and the defensive hypogea carved from the ancient Greek walls. Descending stage by stage, you will discover how, for centuries, each era reused the stone of the one before it. A journey in which Greek walls, Baroque vaults and medieval olive presses coexist within the same layer of rock. Not a simple monument, but a city that has continued to rewrite itself beneath its own skin.