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Rutigliano (Rutigliano dialect: Retegghiéne) is one of the oldest towns in the province of Bari (BA) in the Italian region of Apulia (Puglia), Italy.

Understand

In 2010 Rutigliano receives the name of "City of Art" in relation to its priceless historical, artistic and architectural heritage. In addition, the town is known as "City of Grapes", because of large-scale production of valuable table grape (Uva Italia, Vittoria e Red Globe). In the south of Italy it is recognized as the capital of the "Whistles in Terracotta". The graceful terracotta whistles of Rutigliano, hand painted and depicting characters and scenes of common life, from the cockerel to the figure of the carabiniere, are famous throughout the nation. Its traditional figulina activity, practiced since the Neolithic, and today linked to clay pans for the cooking of food and the production of typical "whistles" in terracotta (fine works of craftsmanship). On 17 January every year, on the occasion of the liturgical feast of Saint Anthony Abbot, the traditional appointment with the Fair of the Whistle is held, set up along the streets of the historic center, where you can admire the creativity and skill of local artisans, involved in a merry competition.

Get in

By train Check www.trenitalia.com for time tables and prices.

By car You can get to Bari by Autostrada A14 Italia.svg highway, which runs from Bologna to Taranto following the Adriatic coast.

By bus You can use Onbus Company www.onbuscompany to travel from Sicily to Puglia. Touring buses www.touringbuses connect Germany to Puglia. Or www.flixbus for European travel.

See

• Terracotta Whistle Museum "Domenico Divella" - former Dominican Convent. Precious terracotta artifacts are kept in this museum, pride of local artisans and known throughout Italy.
• Civic Archaeological Museum "Grazia e Pietro Didonna" - Piazza XX Settembre. Here the precious fossils are exposed, found in the surrounding countryside, with dolmenic tombs and funeral equipment.
• Ecclesiastical Chapter Museum "Santa Maria della Colonna" (Educational Museum of History and Sacred Art - MuDiAS) - Palazzo Settanni.
• School Museum - I Circolo didattico "G. Settanni".
• Norman castle. In the middle of the eleventh century, with the advent of the Normans, the ancient fortress, situated on the top of the hill on which the settlement was established, was rebuilt according to the architectural style of the northern rulers and assumed the features that it has preserved to the present day. The main tower was built, still referred to as the Norman Tower. Around it there was the primitive core of the medieval village. From 1108 onward, there is the process of encampment and fortification.
• the castle is equipped with three towers (Torre Maestra, Torre di Cinta, Baluardo) with connecting wall.
• the perimeter walls of the village (between 7 and 10 m high)
• the three city gates (Porta Castello to the East, Porta di Bari to the North and Porta Siconis to the South).
• it's still possible to visit the caves of the primitives, in the countryside of the Annunziata.
• Collegiate Church of Santa Maria della Colonna and San Nicola. In 2010, on the occasion of the raising of Rutigliano to "City of Art", the Italian Society for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (SIPBC) assigned the blue shield to the Collegiata Santa Maria della Colonna and San Nicola, the historic Romanesque church that dominates the ancient village of Rutigliano, rich in valuable artistic evidence such as, among others, the famous polyptych by Vivarini and the Odegitria, the Byzantine icon of the fourteenth century.
• Church and Convent of the Capuchin Fathers, built in the seventeenth century in place of the oldest church of San Michele, on the way to Montrone. It houses a small Franciscan fraternity in charge of the regency of the cult built around the Holy Crucifix, wooden sculpture of the seventeenth century.

Norman Tower, Rutigliano.

Do

There are a lot of events that citizens of Rutigliano celebrate.

• Passa passe. On 25th March people celebrates the Annunciation at the homonymous rural church, opened to worship also on the third Sunday of May and Easter Monday. Easter Monday is the occasion for the rite of "pas-a-pas", that consists in sacralizing close bonds of friendship with the symbolic gesture of binding each other to the left arm a colored ribbon.
• 17 January: Feast of Sant'Antonio Abate and Terracotta Whistle Fair with sale of chestnuts, dried fruit, buns and the characteristic clay "whistles". The tradition is that boyfriends gave their girlfriends the typical cockerel whistle; the allusion to the symbolic sexual value of the two elements, the whistle and the rooster, here is very clear. There is an animal that, perhaps more than any other, represents a more direct element of fusion between the figure, the cult of S. Antonio Abate and the tradition of whistles, and it is the pig, in ancient times very represented. On this day the blessing of animals is also held, where it's possible to see every breed: dogs, cats, but also lobsters, goats and horses.
• February: Carnival in the square, parade of allegorical floats.
• Palm Sunday: Via Crucis Vivente through the streets of the city, where the last moments of Jesus' life are represented.
• second weekend of May: Feast of Nicholas of Bari, patron saint.
• 31st May, feast of Mater Domini, at the homonymous rural church.
• 16th July Madonna del Carmine is celebrated, with lights and procession.
• 9-10 August: Fiera di san Lorenzo. In the town are set up stalls and some people go to the sea to look at the stars; it is thought that on that day in the sky there are many shooting stars.
• 13-14-15 September: Feast of SS. Crocifisso, celebrated with lights, rides and fireworks to the rhythm of music. The first procession typical of the feast of the Crucifix dates back to 15th September 1709 and in the following years, the Ruthenian people turned to Christ, in times of famine, drought or to ask for the gift of water for the fields and livestock, for men and children. No precise information has been found on the arrival of the Crucifix in Rutigliano. From the documents at our disposal we can place the arrival of the Miraculous Image between 1630 and 1709. To date, it is not possible to be more precise. But there is a legend behind this tradition. The crucifix was worked in the City of Brindisi by an excellent craftsman for a certain Castellano of Spain, but it was incomplete. Passing through Rutigliano the friars of the covento who hosted him for the night, wanted to see it. Opening the chest, they admired the crucifix. The maker fell to the ground unconscious: the crucifix was perfected and the head was joined to the body.
• September: Grape Festival
• Second Sunday of December: Pettola Festival (typical product).
• December 23: it is customary for groups of musicians and singers to wander the streets of the ancient village and not only, singing the traditional "Pastorelle", sweet lullabies to Jesus child that is born, until the first light of dawn.
• Every first Sunday of the month: Antique Town, Antiques and Collectibles Market.