Corato is a town and comune in Italy. It is located in Bari province, Puglia region, southeastern Italy. Founded by the Normans, it became subject to Alfonso V, king of Aragon, at the end of the 15th century, and later to the Carafa family. The chief features of the ancient centre of the town, which is surrounded by modern buildings, are the Romanesque church. It is a twin city of Grenoble, France, where many Coratini immigrated during the twentieth century.HISTORY-Corato was a little village.The year that marks the beginning of Corato's history is 1046; Pietro il Normanno occupied the few houses of the farmers and founded Corato.Pietro decided to endow this little town of some elements:a castle, four angular towers,the perimetery enclosing walls,four access doors,two main perpendicular streets.These elements, typical of a Medieval town, were preserved until XVIcentury; this was a particular thriving moment for the privatearistocratic building. From XVII century Corato started to extend from all four sides of the Norman falling walls, in fact from this period and the following centuries the town saw the big costruction of churches and palaces that belonged to aristocracy.Today Corato is an important agricultural and industrial center of the hinterland of Bari,placed 43 Km west from it and at 232mt. above sea level.The Saint patron of the town is San Cataldo.THE EMBLEM-Corato's emblem is composed by four towers and one heart. The four towers were built in the Middle Ages by Roberto il Guiscardo, a Norman warrior to defend Corato by enemy's attacks.Today these towers are no more there. There's the heart because the Italian word "cuore" is more similar at the name Corato: under it there is a latin sentence that means "heart without stain of betrayal" that was dedicated to Corato's people from Corradino of Svevia. WHAT TO SEE IN CORATO-The town-hall was built in the sixteenth century and at the beginning it was a monastery. In this monastery there were monks, but when this order was suppressed in1866 the monastery became a town-hall.-The Dome is the Corato's oldest church together with the San Vito church. The Dome was built in the twelfth century. Its style is Romanesque and it's characterized by semplicity and essentiality. On the portal there's a Jesus Christ, the Vergin and St. John the Baptist representation.-De Mattis Palace was built in the fifteenth century. Its feature is the stone with diamond point which cover the first level of the palace. At the corner we can see Patroni Griffi's emblem, an aristocratic family which owned this palace. The emblem represents a griffon and a hand which holds an anchor.-Catalano Palace was built in the fifteenth century. Between the ground floor and the first floor there's a string course ledge decorated by hunting scenes. Under the balcony we can see an epigraph which reminds the Catalanus master. At the corner there are the most important elements of this palace: the human faces that had the power to chase the adversity.-The museum was the town prison and it was built in 1903. The prison has a squared structure subdivided in nine rooms, which today host several evidences of Corato's history. The museum presents two sections: an historical-archeological section and an anthropological section. In every rooms there are informative panels and some cds which reproduce tipical sounds of a historical period or of a agricultural activity.HISTORICAL-CULTURAL TOURISTIC TOUR: PALACES, STREETS, CHURCHES1. Town-hall2. Maria S.S. Incoronata church3. Santa Maria Maggiore church4. Ripoli Arch5. Di Vagno square6. De Mattis Palace7. Catalano Palace8. Gentile Palace9. Gioia Palace - Sedile square10. Matteo Renato Imbriani monumentHISTORICAL-CULTURAL TOURISTIC TOUR: CHURCHES1. Maria S.S. Incoronata church2. San Domenico monastery3. San Benedetto church4. San Vito church5. Santa Maria Maggiore church(Edited by: PON Projects 2014 "Travel in my town" and "Informazioni turistiche: comunicare per accogliere", Liceo Artistico Federico II "Stupor Mundi" Corato
