The Patron
Assunzione di Maria
The Assunzione di Maria is the listed patron, with the feast given as 5 May. No further explanation of the local observance.
— Castellesi
CASTELLESI COMUNE
Bari,
Puglia
A Murgia town whose cathedral once answered to the crown.
Altamura stands high on the Murgia , the limestone plateau inland from Bari, in wheat country on the Basilicata border. Its bread is protected by DOP and its cathedral was founded by Frederick II.
And it has a jurisdictional history no other comune in this collection shares: for centuries the town's principal church was a palatine basilica , answering directly to the crown rather than to any bishop — which changes where its records are.
The Jurisdiction
A palatine basilica
Altamura's cathedral was founded by Frederick II as a royal palatine church exempt from ordinary episcopal authority. That unusual status changes where older parish and ecclesiastical records may be held.
The Landmark
Cattedrale di Altamura
The Cattedrale di Altamura is both the town's principal landmark and the key to its unusual church jurisdiction. Older family records may belong to the cathedral chapter rather than a conventional diocesan archive.
Did you know?
THE CATHEDRAL ANSWERED TO THE CROWN
Church records break the normal pattern
Civil status 1809–1861 follows the Terra di Bari rule and sits at Trani, but Altamura's older church records require special care because its cathedral was historically a palatine basilica outside ordinary episcopal jurisdiction.
LA PARLATA
How they speak
Italian is standard. Local speech may include Apulian varieties, with Salentino varieties further south.
The church did not follow the normal rules
Frederick II refounded Altamura in the thirteenth century and built its cathedral , granting it the status of a palatine basilica — a royal chapel outside episcopal jurisdiction, a privilege it retained for centuries.
The town grew as a walled centre on the Murgia, its old quarters organised around the claustri , small enclosed courtyards off the main streets — a distinctive urban form still visible.
Altamura's bread has been made from local durum wheat in wood-fired ovens for centuries; a Roman poet's reference to the bread of this region is quoted locally, and Pane di Altamura became the first bread in Europe to receive DOP protection.
In 1799 the town declared for the Neapolitan Republic and was besieged and sacked by Cardinal Ruffo's Sanfedisti — an event that remains central to local memory and earned Altamura the name Leonessa di Puglia .
On the Murgia nearby, a cave yielded the Uomo di Altamura , a Neanderthal skeleton encased in calcite — among the most complete ever found — and quarry beds preserve one of the largest concentrations of dinosaur footprints in the world.
Postcards from Altamura
Wear Altamura
Carry your heritage with pride. Timeless designs inspired by the heart of Bari.
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Where this
belongs
belongs
PROVINCIA DI BARI
Discover the beauty, culture and traditions of Bari and its remarkable comuni.
EXPLORE BARI →REGIONE PUGLIA
From the mountains to the sea, Puglia is a region of history, flavor and soul.
EXPLORE PUGLIA →From the passenger index
At least 783 people who gave Altamura as their home are recorded by name among Italian arrivals in the United States — each with the ship they sailed on and the day they landed.
A floor, not a total. The index covers arrivals through 1912, holds nothing between May 1907 and December 1911, and many passengers were written down with no home town at all. Where a name is there, it is there with its record.
Have Orso look for your family →Ready to visit
High on the plateau
Getting there
The nearest major airport is Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport.
Altamura is a large working town on the Murgia, with a compact walled centre, the cathedral at its heart and the claustri opening off its streets — and, unusually for Puglia, a genuine bread culture you can walk into.
For a descendant it pairs naturally with Matera , twenty minutes across the Basilicata border, which is both a remarkable place and quite possibly where part of the family came from.
The Alta Murgia national park surrounds the town, with the dinosaur quarry and the cave of the Uomo di Altamura, and Bari is an hour north-east.
What to see
La Cattedrale — Frederick II's palatine basilica, with its rose window and portal.
I claustri — the enclosed courtyards of the old town.
The bakeries — the wood-fired ovens and the DOP bread.
The Alta Murgia — the plateau, its masserie and the dinosaur footprint quarry.
Matera — twenty minutes across the border, and possibly part of the family story.
Your family's parish or claustro — the closest thing to an ancestral address here.
Family history
Where the records are
Archives and registers
Altamura's civil records are at Bari — but its parish records are not where the Puglian pattern would suggest.
Related places
Keep exploring
The journey does not end at the boundary of one comune. The province, the region and the neighbouring towns often hold the rest of the picture.
Your Roots. Their Story. Your Place.
Altamura is more than a place on a map. It is a part of you.
FIND YOUR COMUNE →