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Commune di CASAMASSIMA Piazza Aldo Moro 9 Scala, 70010 Casamassima, Italia Telefono 011-39- 080-671577 Fax 011-39- 080-671147 13,427 Residents (1997) Area - 77.45 Km2 223 meters above Sea Level Archivio di Stato Provincia di Bari Via Pasubio 70100 Bari, Italy 
Photos taken by the webmaster on 19 September 2006 Piazza Santa Croce Porta Orologio 
CASAMASSIMA Town in the Bari province, located 233 meters above sea level, on one of the eastern terraces of the Murge. The Murge is a characteristic area of Apuglia, composed of limestone hills, near the edge of the Bari basin (conca di Bari - A depression formed when the underlying limestone is eroded by underground water and collapses.) It rises up on the lower steps of the northwest part of the Murge and therefore enjoys a wide vista where one can see as far as the Adriatic, 15 Km away. The comune of Casamassima (82.92 sq. Km.) has 8,740 inhabitants of which 8,607 live in the town. The chief occupation is agriculture. The land is intensely cultivated and produces wine, olives and almonds. The town is located on the Bari-Putignano railroad and on the important Bari-Gioa dell Colle-Taranto highway and thanks to a network of roads it is connected to all the major towns of the central Bari province. Added note about Casamassima from Rose Albrizio PIE mailist, 9/6/1997: I travelled through the town two years ago. The area is heavily built up and part of "Bari Centro", the commercial area of Bari. I doubt if you can see the Adriatic unless from the top of one of the many high-rise buildings. There is a hugh hypermarket, Auchan, located in the town. Text from Rose Albrizio, posted to PIE mailist, 9/6/1997: HISTORY of CASAMASSIMA The origin of Casamassima, according to legend, dates back to Fabio Massimo V (III Century BC) who, during the war against Hanibal, built a camp in this country, which offered a good position to follow the warring events; from "camp Maximi" (camp of Massimo) therefore the name of Casamaxima. A second, more reliable, historical description, places the origins at the height of the medieval period, when a general of the family Massima from Rome built a village in these parts and populated it with inhabitants from the ancient hamlets of Tominia (Tomegna) and Ancient Casal (Casaldin) following destruction of those cities. The first document that speaks about the town was dated 962, a time at which it is presupposed that Casamassima is already an organized suburb. After having been subject for six long centuries to the Converse and having suffered injustices from some of the many vassals who ruled in our region, finally comes the acquisition in 1609 by a Portuguese adventurer, Michael Vaaz, Count of Mola, who, in the vast territory of Casamassima, in the zone of the quattro centesco Castle of the Centurione, constructs the Hamlet of St. Michele. Vaaz sells to the De Ponte family of Naples and it is kept by them up to the beginning of the 1800's, when Giuseppe Bonaparte, King of Naples, abolishes feudalism in all the Kingdom. From 1815 until the Unity of Italy, our fervent patriots of each class, who feared for the fate of our Nation, distinguished themselves for our country and they operated actively in her favor. Casamassima is no more a country vassal. The rise of the commune administration, the passing of years, and the increase of the population has widened the inhabited area out of the ancient buildings, assuming the pleasant appearance that is now preserved. Commune Sights: DOOR CLOCK One of the doors that permits access to the inside of the wall. ARCH of the SHADOWS A popular belief is that, here at night, is a place of conference of spirits and ghosts, from whence the names comes, Arch of the Bad Shadow. Above here there is a house that was the residence of the first municipal physician of Casamassima. ABBEY Of SANT'ANGELO In the Channel of Gioia and Casamassima, near the foot of Mount Sannace, a humble Benedictine convent was erected that several historians estimate to have risen around the year Thousand : Sant'Angelo. Before Michael Vaaz founded Castle St. Michele in the XVII century, Sant'Angelo Abbey was part of the territory of Casamassima. The CASTLE of the CENTURION Casamassima possessed, up to 1619, the year of the constitution and construction of Castle St. Michele, the castle of Gerolamo Centurione that rose in this part of the territory "of the four miles," in which also was sited the Abbey of Sant'Angelo. MOTHER CHURCH "It is still alive in our memory, and more still in our soul, the sonorous and melodious tone of the mystical bell of the historical bell tower of the Mother Church that, punctually, each morning, at the hour of five, provided for waking up all the citizens and, with the good morning not always accepted with good wishes, they ordered all the citizens to get up and go cultivate the earth and pick up the fruits of her results" (Frisini) S.CHIARA St., ancient suburb Crossing S.Chiara Street, the ancient Monastery of S.Chiara may be visited, having been much rearranged with continuous repairs. The entry doors on the church are from the end of the 1500's. Translated 14 September 1997 by Gary Feuerstein From the Casamassima commune website: http://www.comune.casamassima.bari.it/ HISTORY of CASAMASSIMA Until the end of the 10th century, it is not possible to document Casamssima's history. The first document that speaks about Casamassima is from 962 AD, during the occupation of Bisanzio. The origins, certainly, go back to 7-8-9th centuries, during the Longobard occupation. It is from 1179 that we know the diverse historical circumstances, starting with the feud that had origins under the Normans. The first feudal Norman was Guido from Venosa. Casamassima was an inhabited nucleus when it was granted, in 1195, to the Massimi or Massimo family by the emperor Enrico VI, with the obligation for this family to change its last name to "Casamassima." Humiliated by the emperor Frederico II who took away Casamassima in the feud, Casamassima was returned to the legitimate owners by the emperor Corrado IV who was stationed with his troops in the largo di Padula, in 1254. In 1348 Casamassima suffered a sack by Hungarian troops, under the command of Filippo of Sulz. In the same year, Casamassima was made part of the Principality of Taranto. When, in 1455, the daughter of the Orsini prince of Taranto, Caterina Orsini del Balzo, married Antonio Acquaviva, son of duke Giovanni of Atria, he took the township of Conversano in dowry which also included Casamassima. For many centuries the country was at the mercy of various vassals that who commanded the regions, among which the Brienne, the D'Enghien, the Luxemburg, the Orsini and finally the Acquaviva of Aragona. In 1608 it was bought by Michele Vaaz, count of Mola. In succession, from Vaaz it went to the De Ponte family of Naples, allied at the time with Nicola Caracciolo di Vietri of Potenza. Then up to the beginning of the 19th century when, in 1806, Giuseppe Bonaparte, king of Naples, abolished feudalism in all the Kingdom. Thanks to ecclesiastical benefits, the city was dominated by a robust middle class, with an economy based mostly on agriculture. It is during the 20th century that the area enters a period of urban expansion. From the beginning of the 20th century the population has grown, notably favoring a return to the administrative life and of the social classes. Casamassima website: http://www.comune.casamassima.bari.it/ Translated 21 April 2002 by Gary Feuerstein From the website Archeoclub of Italy CASAMASSIMA (BA) A painting symbolizing the Madonna of Carmine from the XVII century under the arc of Via Santa Chiara, in the old suburb, has been returned to the city of Casamassima. A great work of restoration by Vincenzina Lagravinese and Rosanna Lerede, lasting about two months, has again brought light to the original work, that formerly was in disastrous condition, then ruined further by an ill advised painting of the arc. Removing the mortar and eliminating the over painting, the result has been unimaginable even for the restorers. The Madonna with an important crown, dressed in a clear tunic and blue sash that also covers her head, support the Child with both arms. He caresses the face of his Mother with the right hand and shows a calm birdie on the index finger of the left hand. Above, at the sides of the head of the Virgin, there are two heads of little angels and in low, mostly subdued and inconspicuous, two figures in monastic habit, of which that on the right is almost totally irrecoverable. The restoration requested by the Casamassima chapter of the Archeoclub of Italy has been possible thanks to the generous contribution of many partners and by the proceeds of the various activities promised by the association. It is the second rescue intervention that the Archeoclub of Casamassima is carrying out. The first, not yet completed because it is more complex, concerns the Benedictine abbey of San Lorenzo, a construction of the X century. The restoration to health of the exterior masonry and the roof has now been completed. The interior work continues with the recovery of numerous existing frescoes. Translated 5 May 2002 by Gary Feuerstein From the website Stupormundi: http://www.stupormundi.it/_disc1/0000004a.htm Corrado IV of Svevia - A Short History of Casamassima (BA) By: Giovanni Bellomo E-mail: corradoiv@hotmail.com Date: 11/ 04/ 01 Comments Is it possible that Casamassima, a town in the province of Bari, could add something to the already known history of the Svevi? The last Sunday of August, the Pro Loco, in collaboration with other associations, recalls in the "Short History of Corrado IV of Svevia" the passage documented by the child heir of Frederico II from Casamassima in April 1252, during the action of resumption of the territories of Southern Italy under the Sveva Crown. The parchment that testifies to the event is preserved in the historical file of the National Library of Bari and concerns the re-establishment of the domain of Casamassima to the noble "Roberto de Casamaxima" as part of "Conradus dei gratia Romanorum in regem electus semper Augustus Jerusalem et Sicilie rex." The concession of the "privilegium" mended an error of Frederico II, that years previously had dismissed the title of Giovanni, father of Roberto, without taking account that the domain had been granted "by heredity" (direct descendant of Emperor Barone). In 1195 Enrico IV of Svevia, father of Frederico II, placed title to Guidotto Massimo father of Giovanni "by heredity". This on a simple parchment, unknown to the researchers, is found upon the Short History of Corrado IV of Svevia. But there is more. The sense of justice of the unlucky emperor Corrado IV, hamperted by fate, whose true and complex personality is not fully known. The concession of the fief regulated according to the law "Francorum." The obbligation of the name of the corresponding family to that of the granted fief "Casamaxima." The historical circumstances of the presence of Corrado IV in Puglia before his precocious disappearance (1254) to Lavello. His army constituted of "Lombardi, Todischi and Sarracini," to tell by the reporter Matteo Spinelli from Iovenazzo, and presented in the short history. An account of these on the death of Frederico II in vulgar illustrious Pugliese of the 8th century (a language candidate for official use in Italy, if Frederico had succeeded the attempt of reunification under the Sveva Crown). A Carmen of Frederico and his letter (1242) to Corrado on the way to govern. Real dances, entertainments and a list of texts and music of the 8th century. Medieval banquet. And much more. But with all that, there is even more to hope for in a disclosure of the Short History of Corrado IV of Svevia of Casamassima (BA) among the Federiciane manifestations enunciated on the site "Stupormundi"? The Pro Loco anticipatingly thanks the authors of the site in advance and invites all "the Federiciani" near and distant to the V edition of the Short History, Sunday 26 August 2001. Provisional site of the history: web.tiscalinet.it/corteo_storico Translated 21 April 2002 by Gary Feuerstein Casamassima Web Links Santa Croce Parish Piazza S. Croce n°3 c.a.p. 70010 Casamassima (BA) tel: 080 675090 
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