Brindisi

Brindisi (Salentino: Brìnnisi) is a medium-sized city of Apulia, southern Italy. It is the third largest city of Salento Peninsula (the "heel" of the Italian "boot") and one of the busiest ports of the Adriatic Sea.

History
The city was founded by the Messapians, a population of Illyrian origin, with the name of Brunda, meaning "deer's head". This name is due to the natural harbor which resembles the shape of the animal's antlers. The city assumed the name of Brention and then Brentèsion in Ancient Greek, to be later called Brundisium after the conquest by the Romans in 267 BC.

Brundisium reached a population of 100,000 and became the main commercial port of the Roman Empire, with heavy traffic towards Greece and the Middle East that continues today. The city was connected with Rome by the Via Traiana and the Via Appia, whose terminus is still visible today. Virgil died here on September 21 of 19 BC, after a voyage to Greece, where he caught a fever.

Brindisi's golden age ended in the early Middle Ages with invasions by the Ostrogoths, Lombards and Saracens that destroyed the city several times. It was later rebuilt and annexed by the Normans to the Kingdom of Sicily in 1130 and became one the major ports for the Crusaders headed to Holy Land. The town was dominated by Swabian, Angevin, Aragonese, Venetian, Spanish and Austrian kingdoms, and then ruled by the Bourbons from 1735 to 1860.

After Italian unification — and especially with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 — a new positive period started for Brindisi. Between September 1943 and February 1944 the city functioned as the temporary government seat of Italy, and hosted King Victor Emmanuel III, Pietro Badoglio and a part of the Italian armed forces command in September 1943 after the armistice with Italy.

Climate
Brindisi enjoys a Mediterranean climate. Summers are hot and sometimes humid with abundant sunshine. During spring and autumn, Sirocco winds can bring thunderstorms, occasionally dropping red sand from the Sahara in the region. Winters are mild with frequent rain; snow is quite rare.

By plane
The companies that provide a car-rental service from the airport are:

By boat
Ferries to Brindisi are available from Greece (Corfu, Igoumenitsa, Cephalonia, Zante, Patras) and Turkey (Cesme). Visit www.Ferries.gr and search through all ferry schedules to/from Brindisi.

Also Albania is well connected to the city, with ferries from Vlore, managed by Skenderbeg Lines.

To get to the ferry terminal, the bus line "AP" regularly runs from the front entrance of the railway station ("Piazza Crispi - Stazione FF. SS.") to the ferry terminal ("Costa Morena"). A ticket is €1.10 (on-board €2.00).

Apart from being a ferry port Brindisi is also home to the United Nations logistics base (UNLB). The base provides resources logistic support, telecommunications and training opportunity for all peacekeeping operations around the world.

By train


The main cities of northern Italy are not directly connected to this station and a change in Bologna will be necessary. Here you can take a Frecciabianca train to reach Brindisi in 6¾ hours, with a cost comprised between €40 and €60. From Taranto it is possible to take a regional train to arrive in the town in 1¼ hr spending €5. From Lecce you can choose between regional trains, that take about ½ hr (€2.8) or Frecciabianca (€9.9), reaching Brindisi in just 15 minutes. Visit the site of Trenitalia for more info.



By car
If you want to reach Brindisi from north the best option is driving along the motorway until the exit of Bari Nord, here merge onto the expressway  to bypass the centre of Bari and reached Fasano continue on. The route from Bari requires 1 hour.

Alternatively you can choose to cross the Basilicata region through and  motorways until Potenza, then  Basentana,  until Taranto and finally  to Brindisi (4 hr). Both the routes are 370 km (230 miles) long, but the first one will require a cost of €20, while the latter only €5.
 * From Naples take the Autostrada A16 Italia.svg motorway that ends in Canosa and Autostrada A14 Italia.svg until Bari, then following the route described above. (3½ hr)


 * From Lecce drive along the Strada Statale 613 Italia.svg freeway for ½ hr.

By car
Surrounding areas, such as beaches to the north, are best reached by car.

On foot
As the city center area is not so large, a bit over a kilometer from the train station to the Roman Columns, most of the sights in the city center can be seen in an afternoon on foot. Because of many military facilities in the surroundings of Brindisi, areas north or south of the city center are not easy (or very pleasant) to reach on foot. For most things outside of the center, it is better to take a bus or rent a car.

Buy
For fruits and vegetables, there is a market area in the city center at the appropriately named "Piazza mercato", open every day except Saturday.

There are many clothing and specialty shops in the center.

During the off-season, many shops will close for a period in the early afternoon (around 1PM to 4PM), similar to the midday closures for siesta in many parts of Spain. This is also the case for many other cities in the region.

Eat
Restaurants will have many common items of Apulian cuisine. Famous pasta styles include spaghetti alle vongole and orechiette con cime di rapa.

Locals speak highly of the seafood in the area.

Budget
All these are in the city centre:



Go next
If you have not bought the ferry ticket online, you can buy it from an office very close to the train station (exact address required). They will also give you a map to find the embarkation place for ferries. Remember to show your Interrail/Eurail pass, if you have any, to get a discount. They will also call Youth Hostel to pick you up if you arrive in the morning and want to leave in the afternoon or you want to stay over the night.