The Patron
San Ruggero di Canne
Ruggero di Canne is Barletta's listed patron, with the feast on the second Sunday of July.
— Castellesi
CASTELLESI COMUNE
Barletta-Andria-Trani,
Puglia
A port city where civil and military records live in different places.
Barletta sits at the mouth of the Ofanto on the Adriatic, a port and market town with a Swabian castle, a Romanesque basilica and the largest surviving bronze statue from late antiquity standing on a street corner.
In this province the records are split by type rather than by place: Trani holds the old civil registers, and Barletta holds the military ones — for eleven comuni, several of which are not in this province at all.
The Records
Civil there, military here
Historic Terra di Bari civil status for 1809–1861 is at Trani, while Barletta holds military records for eleven comuni. A complete family search may therefore require both archive seats.
The Landmark
Basilica del Santo Sepolcro
The Basilica del Santo Sepolcro reflects Barletta's historic role on routes to the Holy Land. For family research, parish identity should be combined with the archive split between Trani civil records and Barletta military records.
Did you know?
THE RECORDS ARE SPLIT BY TYPE
Civil at Trani, military at Barletta
Barletta holds conscription and service records for eleven comuni, including several now in the Bari metropolitan area, while the older civil status of Terra di Bari sits at Trani. The modern province itself dates only from 2004–2009.
LA PARLATA
How they speak
Italian is standard. Local speech may include Apulian varieties, with Salentino varieties further south.
One family, two archive seats
Barletta grew as a port at the Ofanto mouth and became important in the Crusader centuries — the archbishops of Nazareth transferred their seat here after the fall of the Holy Land, and the town held one of the principal Templar and Hospitaller establishments in the south.
The Colosso — a bronze statue over five metres high, of a late Roman emperor whose identity is still argued — has stood in the town since the Middle Ages, and is the largest surviving bronze from antiquity.
In 1503 the Disfida di Barletta was fought nearby: thirteen Italian knights against thirteen French, in a challenge over an insult to Italian valour. The Italians won, and the episode became a founding story of Italian national feeling in the nineteenth century — which is why Barletta is known well beyond Puglia.
Cannae , where Hannibal destroyed a Roman army in 216 BC, lies within the comune's territory on the Ofanto.
Under the Kingdom, Barletta was a substantial port of the Terra di Bari , shipping grain, wine and salt. It became a seat of the new province of Barletta-Andria-Trani in 2009.
Postcards from Barletta
Wear Barletta
WANT TO SEE BARLETTA 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 BARLETTA →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 278 people who gave Barletta 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
A castle, a colossus and a battlefield
Getting there
The nearest major airport is Bari or Brindisi Airport, depending on the destination.
Barletta is a substantial working city rather than a resort, with a handsome old quarter around the castle and basilica and a long seafront.
For a descendant it pairs naturally with Trani, fifteen minutes down the coast, where the civil records are — and the two towns together cover both halves of this province's archives.
Cannae is a short drive up the Ofanto, and Castel del Monte is half an hour inland. Andria is ten minutes away.
What to see
Il Castello Svevo — the Norman-Swabian fortress and its museum.
Il Colosso — the late Roman bronze on its corner.
Basilica del Santo Sepolcro — the Crusader church.
Cannae — the battlefield and archaeological park on the Ofanto.
The Disfida re-enactment — if your timing allows.
Castel del Monte — Frederick II's octagon, inland.
Your family's parish — the record-keeping institution before 1809.
Family history
Where the records are
Archives and registers
Barletta is where the conscription records are — for eleven comuni, several of them in Bari province today.
What the Barletta seat holds
Confirms the ruoli matricolari and liste di leva for Andria, Barletta, Bisceglie, Canosa, Corato, Minervino Murge, Molfetta, Ruvo di Puglia, Spinazzola, Terlizzi and Trani — plus the comune's own registers from 1809. Note the seat moved to via Manfredi on 31 March 2025.
archiviodistatodibari.cultura.gov.itThe Trani section on Antenati
Civil status 1901–1938 for the same eleven comuni.
antenati.cultura.gov.itBrowse the Bari civil registers on Antenati
For the earlier civil status of the wider province.
antenati.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.
Barletta is more than a place on a map. It is a part of you.
FIND YOUR COMUNE →