Identity: two seas, the island, Holy Week rites
The city of the Spartans and of two seas: the old town on the island, the Borgo beyond the swing bridge. Holy Week is the time of the hooded "perdoni" and of the Addolorata and Misteri processions, which advance at a very slow pace, the "nazzicata". The city hosted the twentieth Mediterranean Games.
Sections: Geography · History · Population · Languages · Time zone · Public holidays
Two seas and the island
Taranto grew around the water: the Mar Grande, open to the gulf, and the inner Mar Piccolo. The old town, an island since 1480, keeps narrow alleys, crowded palazzi, the Doric temple, the Aragonese Castle and the cathedral of San Cataldo with its frescoed dome; the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II seafront looks out on the Cheradi islands. The Borgo, laid out on a grid after Italian unification, is home to the MArTA.
Holy Week
In Holy Week the processions are led by the "perdoni", hooded confraternity members. At midnight on Holy Thursday the Addolorata procession leaves the old town, promoted by the confraternity of the same name since 1839; it re-enacts Mary's search for Christ and returns to the church of San Domenico at 13:00 on Good Friday. At 17:00 on Good Friday the Misteri procession sets out, organised by the Confraternity of the Carmine, which keeps the statues of the dead Christ and the Sorrowful Virgin donated in 1765. The pace is the "nazzicata": about 2 km in fourteen hours, with stops timed by the mazzieri.
The Mediterranean Games
Taranto hosted the twentieth Mediterranean Games, with events in Taranto and other Apulian towns and the athletes' village on two ships moored at the Chiapparo naval base.
Data
Sources
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Reviewed: 10/23/2026 · by piero.avolio · rev. 1 · Period: → 2027-10-13
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