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Bari, the largest city on the Adriatic coast, is not a mandatory stop on the Great Italian Tourist Trail. No Renaissance masterpieces are on public display, the town’s history does not feature names that you would recognize from old High School lessons, and you will not see reflections of magnificent medieval architecture in the sparkling waters of a scenic lido.

Bari is no Florence, Rome or Venice: its music plays on a different register, and its joys are on a different scale.

"A market stall, one of the Surprises from Santa Claus in Bari"

In many ways, this lack of obvious Instagram appeal is Bari’s blessing. The city welcomes visitors with open hands and hearts but refrains from engineering everything for their pleasure.

Bari exists primarily to suit the needs of its residents – which is why the small high street shops that sell souvenirs also carry cheap household articles, why the old town alleyways are full of scooters that mercilessly bleep lazy pedestrian strollers out of their way, and why laundry is hanging from nearly every window of the centro storico.

"street sights - Surprises from Santa Claus in Bari"

Bari at its best is a cartoon version of Italy: full of wonderful surprises for all lovers of Italy – presented by Santa Claus himself, more of whom later.

"Surprises from Santa Claus in Bari"

So without great architecture and world-famous works of art to look at: what should visitors go to see in Bari?

Care for some surprises from Santa Claus in Bari?

Here are a few suggestions.

1. Pasta Ladies

The Number One Rule for every holiday is always to seek out what you cannot find anywhere else.

This is why, when in Bari, you should go to search for the nonne delle orecchiette, the ladies of a certain age who offer home-made pasta in the streets of the old town.

If you are lucky, you may even get an opportunity of watching them at work, cutting and shaping the local specialty noodles.

"pasta ladies  - Surprises from Santa Claus in Bari"

You can find these ladies all over town, sometimes sitting on improvised stalls, sometimes in little alcoves or hallways of residential buildings, usually surrounded by religious imagery that can give you the feeling of entering a temple rather than a place that sells food.

"more pasta  - Surprises from Santa Claus in Bari"

If you are in a hurry, you can also head straight for the arches of Strada Arco Basso: this is where many of these ladies convene daily for an open-air pasta market.

These home-made orecchiette (“little ears”) are not cheap: the ladies will charge you more than you would have to pay in a supermarket for factory made pasta. But bear in mind that these branded noodles also make much less original souvenirs or presents for friends and family at home.

2. The Muraglia Wall Walk

For easy hikers, every holiday should include at least one walk, and since we recommend Bari as a destination for a short trip – ideally two or three days as part of a longer journey to the south of Italy – here is a suggestion for a short walk.

"wall walk - Surprises from Santa Claus in Bari"

The Muraglia is an elevated walkway on top of the ancient fortifications around the castle of San Antonio on the eastern edge of the old town.

It allows you to stroll leisurely between handsome residential buildings on one side …

… and views across the Mediterranean Sea on the other.

The Muraglia guarantees you a pleasant 30 to 45 minutes, combining local history with glimpses into the everyday modern-day life of ordinary Baresi in a most charming way.

3. Murattiano

If, after that, you have the time and the energy for another walk, we suggest a stroll through the Murattiano …

… the “modern” quarter whose grid-like street pattern was designed in the early 19th century by Joachim Murat, one of this turbulent period’s most fascinating characters.

Murat was born the son of an innkeeper in provincial France, joined the army twice (his first military career ended when he was discharged for insubordination) before eventually rising through the ranks of Napoleon’s army after audacious cavalry charges had made his name at the battle of Abukir.

After Murat had married Napoleon’s sister, he was appointed King of Naples, was deposed during the restoration of the ancien régime and ended his life in front of a firing squad.

But between all that social climbing and derring-do, Murat also found the time for some serious work when he ruled the south of Italy, and it was his idea to tear down the southern end of Bari’s old city wall and build a new town that was meant to be everything that the old one was not: clean and transparent in structure, rationally planned, with wide tree-lined boulevards and public gardens.

The golden years for the Murattiano came during the Belle Époque in the late 19th century when Bari’s modern harbour – another of Murat’s pet projects – became one of the Eastern Mediterranean’s busiest trade hubs.

Most of the quarter’s glitziest buildings come from this period …

… such as the Palazzo Mincuzzi on Bari’s main shopping street, the Via Sparano.

But more recently constructed buildings effortlessly chime in to pick up the same leitmotif of elegance and splendour, ensuring that the quarter has managed to preserve its character throughout the decades.

4. San Nicolò di Bari

And finally, a church. In the heart of Bari’s old town, a few steps away from the more imposing (and younger) Cathedral, you will find this modest entrance door …

… and, behind it, what was once one of Christendom’s most visited pilgrimage sites.

The church is dedicated to San Nicolò di Bari, who is not – as one might suspect – a local saint for local people, but one of the world’s most widely revered saints.

Yes, children, this is the guy who is responsible for bringing you all those wonderful gifts every Christmas!

Before going into the Yuletide business with his elves and reindeers, Saint Nicholas aka Santa Claus served as the Bishop of Myra in the Middle East, but when the town fell to the infidels in the 11th century, his earthly remains were brought to a safer place in Bari.

Santa’s final resting place can still be visited in the crypt of the church, alongside the chair that was – as the legend has it – his “cathedra”, his episcopal throne.

Didn’t I tell you? There will surprises from Santa Claus in Bari!

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