The Patron
San Riccardo di Andria
Riccardo di Andria is the listed patron, celebrated on the Monday following the third Sunday of September. The Madonna dei Miracoli is a major Andriese devotion.
— Castellesi
CASTELLESI COMUNE
Barletta-Andria-Trani,
Puglia
An agricultural city whose family records are split across three towns.
Andria lies inland from the Adriatic on the edge of the Murgia , a large agricultural city of olive groves and vineyards — and one of the biggest comuni in Puglia by population.
Castel del Monte , Frederick II's octagonal castle and the most enigmatic building of the medieval south, stands within its territory.
The Records
Three towns, three roles
An Andriese family may require Andria for later civil records, Trani for civil status from 1809–1861, and Barletta for conscription and service records. The archive trail is split by record type.
The Landmark
Cattedrale di Andria
The Cattedrale di Andria is one of the city's principal religious landmarks. In a large comune with several substantial parishes, identifying the family's parish remains an important way to narrow the search.
Did you know?
THREE TOWNS HOLD ONE FAMILY
Civil there, military somewhere else
Terra di Bari civil status for 1809–1861 is at Trani, military records for Andria are at Barletta, and later civil registers remain with the comune. The modern Barletta-Andria-Trani province did not become operational until 2009.
LA PARLATA
How they speak
Italian is standard. Local speech may include Apulian varieties, with Salentino varieties further south.
Andria, Trani and Barletta
Andria was a Norman foundation that became a favoured city of Frederick II , who granted it privileges and had two of his wives buried in its cathedral — the city's motto still records that it remained faithful to him.
On a hill within its territory Frederick built Castel del Monte in the 1240s: a perfect octagon with octagonal towers, of uncertain purpose — not obviously a fortress, not obviously a hunting lodge — and one of the most studied buildings in Europe. It is UNESCO-listed and appears on the Italian one-cent coin.
Under the Aragonese, Andria passed to the Del Balzo and then the Carafa , who held it as a duchy into the modern period. It remained a large agricultural centre of the Terra di Bari , working olives, vines and almonds on the Murgia's edge, with the great masserie — fortified estate farms — organising the countryside and its labour.
The city grew substantially in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and became one of the largest comuni in the region. In 2009 it became one of the three seats of the new province.
Postcards from Andria
Wear Andria
WANT TO SEE ANDRIA REPRESENTED?
Castellesi hasn't made anything for this place yet. Requests are how we decide which comuni come next — every one is read, and the places people ask for are the places that get made.
REQUEST ANDRIA →Where this
belongs
belongs
PROVINCIA DI BARLETTA-ANDRIA-TRANI
Discover the beauty, culture and traditions of Barletta-Andria-Trani and its remarkable comuni.
EXPLORE BARLETTA-ANDRIA-TRANI →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 101 people who gave Andria 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
The octagon, and the city below it
Getting there
The nearest major airport is Bari or Brindisi Airport, depending on the destination.
Most visitors come for Castel del Monte and see nothing else. The city itself is large, busy and unpolished, with a compact old centre around the cathedral and the sanctuary.
For a descendant the city is the point: the parish churches, the old quarters, and the Murgia countryside with its masserie and olive groves, where most Andriesi families actually worked.
Barletta — the two archive towns — are fifteen minutes away on the coast, which makes a records trip and a family trip easy to combine.
What to see
Castel del Monte — Frederick II's octagon on its hill, UNESCO-listed.
Il Santuario della Madonna dei Miracoli — the city's principal devotion, with its crypt.
The Cattedrale — with the Hohenstaufen tombs.
The old town — Porta Sant'Andrea and the streets within.
The Murgia and its masserie — the estate country that employed the city.
Trani and Barletta — fifteen minutes away, and where your older records are.
Your family's parish — the practical unit of search in a comune this large.
Family history
Where the records are
Archives and registers
An Andriese family's papers sit in three places. These are two of them.
The Trani section on Antenati
Andria is first on the list of eleven comuni whose 1901–1938 civil status was deposited by the Tribunale di Trani.
antenati.cultura.gov.itWhat the Barletta seat holds
Andria's conscription lists and service rolls are held at Barletta, not at Andria or Bari.
archiviodistatodibari.cultura.gov.itRelated 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.
Andria is more than a place on a map. It is a part of you.
FIND YOUR COMUNE →