From the foundation to the Middle Ages

The village was perhaps founded by Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus during the Punic Wars who was a general belonging to the Roman family Massimi. Its primitive nucleus was therefore Roman and the name derives from this origin: an accampamento dei Massimi. It could also mean casa più grande.^[3]

In the old city there are walls dating well back into the early tenth century, although the oldest official document concerning Casamassima that has survived is a short time after the Placiti Cassinesi, which are dated between 960 and 963. It concerns a morgengabio, that according to the ancient Lombard custom, specified the part of the goods that the husband gave to his bride the day after the first wedding night. Before that, however, it was probably under the control of lords from other feudal systems nearby, such as Acquaviva delle Fonti or Conversano.

In 962, in Casamassima, Sikeprando and Eregarda, spouses, sell to Kalolohanne a piece of vineyard for the price of five Costantini money, the woman cum consensu and voluntate his brother Garzanito and his relative Kolahure sells the fourth part of his morgincap.

The document, kept in the archive of Bari Cathedral, in Bari, is one of the few existing traces that shows the presence of Casamassima as a well-organized community at the end of tenth century.

Casamassima lived for centuries under many Apulian lordships, constantly dependent on the feuds of neighboring countries as Conversano and Acquaviva delle Fonti, and then increased its importance. Evidence of this period is the castle in the historic center of Casamassima.

The ancient village is medieval, developed from the eighth century around a Norman tower that has then expanded, becoming a castle.

16th to 19th century

In 1609 the feud which belonged to the Acquaviva family, was bought by the Portugal family of Jewish origin Vaaz.^[5]

In 1658 to Bari there was an epidemic of plague, probably carried by the sailors of a ship arrived in the port, and in a short time over 20 thousand inhabitants of the capital were infected and died. The Duke Odoardo Vaaz,^[5] at Casamassima, he ordered with the painting of the buildings, monuments and churches adding the blue color to the quicklime, probably sulphate copper. The plague was thus removed from the country and later a small church was built, dedicated to Our Lady of Constantinople, as a sign of gratitude and to honor a vow of the duke.

In 1667 it was then sold to the Neapolitan family of D'Aponte.^[5]

The blue country (paese azzurro)

Following the historical truth concerning the plague epidemic, legends overlapped, and one of these tells how the ancient village became all blue only after overcoming the danger of contagion and to honor the vow made by the lord of Casamassima Michele Vaaz to the Madonna, that had preserved the village from the deadly epidemic. For gratitude Duke Vaaz would ordered to paint the block with quicklime adding the blue color of the mantle of the Madonna, now depicted under the arch of Via Santa Chiara.^[6]

Since the 20th country

In the 60s the Milanese painter Vittorio Viviani seeing Casamassima was struck by its unique characteristic and began to paint using the village as a setting for his paintings and called Casamassima "Il Paese Azzurro". The stratifications of blue lime on the ancient buildings bear witness to the unique past of the village, which unlike the typical white Apulian towns shows the shades of blue.^[7]

Up to the 1980s, the town had mainly agricultural vocation then a period of new urbanization followed and the recovery of the historic centre began.

Religious architecture

Monastery of Santa Chiara.

The monastery is the most imposing building in the historic center and was founded in 1573 by Antonio Acquaviva of Aragon with money from his sister Donna Dorotea. Built as an orphanage, a century later (1600) it becomes the Monastery of the Poor Clares. Over the years it has undergone various changes and transformations: after the Unification of Italy it was suppressed and used, over time, as a prison, school, cine-theater and home. The façade on Via Scesciola has a rusticated ground floor, a long crowning viewpoint with iron gratings. Inside the cloister you can see two sides with arches on pillars and in the center an elevated cistern.

Saint Croce of Matrice church

Built on another of the century. XII – XIII, It has a wall structure with smooth and regular ashlars. Leaning against the church we find the bell tower in regular stone ashlars, two floors divided by ornate frames. The first floor has mullioned windows with arches turned on the capitals, included in an upper arch laid on shelves. On the second floor there is a loggia with a perforated checkerboard parapet. It consists internally of three large naves with chapels, in which, among the many works of great interest, there are a baptismal font of 1200 and the statue of San Rocco, protector of the city.

Complex of the Monacelle.

The result of an adaptation of a former palace belonging to an important local family: the De Bellis family. The last owner, Don Domenico Console, bought the palace and made it an orphanage where civil and religious education was given to young girls. Inside the orphanage was established a women's music conservatory, one of the most important in the province was established and it was appreciated by the Kingdom of Naples. After the unification of Italy it was used as a barracks of a police force, hotel and elementary school, compromising the original fabric of the building. Today It is used as the seat of some municipal offices and a rich library with study rooms, computer rooms, a well-equipped auditorium and an art gallery belonging to the Don Sante Montanaro Foundation, in addition to the presence of the eco-museum of SAC Pecutezia.

Auditorium dell'Addolorata.

Former church of 1800 in baroque style, built by Don Domenico Console and annexed to the Conservatory of Monacelle. Today it is a very popular auditorium for conferences, presentations and concerts. It has a beautiful bell tower with onion cusp.

Church of Purgatory.

Baroque style building with an imposing bell tower, built between 1722 and 1758 in the central Piazza Aldo Moro. It is high above the street level and has a large churchyard, it has a single nave with numerous chapels inside. It houses the Confraternity of Purgatory and the statue of Our Lady of Carmine, patron saint of city.

Abbazia di San Lorenzo

Throughout Puglia, during the X and XI centuries there were some abbeys of monks, one of which was that of San Lorenzo in Casamassima. The documents that are kept in the archive of the Basilica of San Nicola di Bari show that the small convent built before 984 A.D. was a Benedictine center. Unfortunately, today only the church remains, located about 2500 meters from Casamassima, on the road to Turi, in a characteristic blade.

It represents a fine example of sacred rural architecture with frescoes. The construction is in large stone ashlars and the roof consists of a double pitched roof with terracotta tiles. The main facade has a small door with shaped jambs on which there is a protiro with a niche and a bell-shaped sail.

At the rear there is a small semicircular apse that creates a rhythmic alternation of volumes, with another more protruding on the left. The inner vault is a barrel.

Civil architecture

Military architecture

Natural areas

Ethnic groups and foreign minorities

• China 357
• Romania 71
• Georgia 59
• Pakistan 25

Traditions and folklore

Pinata of Casamassima

In 1977 during a carnival festival a pot was the protagonist of the event and from the next edition a group of artists gave birth to the first association of carriages and artists of papier-mâché: the association U Car. The Pentolaccia began to be known at a regional level thanks to parades of floats, performances of dance schools, masked groups and special guests during the first weekend of Lent. The event has been awarded the Medal of the High Patronage of the President of Italy and since 2016 is part of the Historical Carnivals of Ministry of i Cultural Heritage and Activities (Italy).

Corteo Storico Corrado IV di Svevia

The event usually takes place on the second Sunday of October and evokes a historical episode really happened in April 1252, documented by an original parchment preserved in the Historical Archive of the Library of Bari. Conrad IV of Germany, son and heir apparent of the Emperor Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor crossed the land of Casamassima and returned the fief to Roberto da Casamaxima, whose father Giovanni had been taken away by Frederick II. The historical re-enactment is attended by four hundred people dressed in medieval clothes who are accompanied by street artists, flag wavers, musicians, dancers, fire eaters, knights, jugglers and theater. The event takes place under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic, the Honorary Consulates in Bari of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Kingdom of Belgium, bearing two medals of the President of Italy.

Library

Municipal library, located within Palazzo Monacelle, has about 10,000 volumes, including more than 300 antique and high value books.The municipal library is attached to the separate section of the Municipal Historical Archive, established in 1983, which contains documents from 1808 onwards and is under the protection of the Archival and Bibliographic Superintendence of the Apulia.

School

Two educational circles, two first grade secondary schools and a high school named after the Armenian poet Hrand Nazariantz.

University

At the Baricentro is located the headquarters of the university LUM – Libera Università Mediterranea.

Theater

Casamassima boasted a notable cultural space, the former Cinema Teatro Augusto, demolished to build new homes. The works and theater exhibitions are organized by the local theater association "ACCA (Cultural Association Casamassimese Apulia)" and staged at the Urban Laboratory "Officine UFO", located in Via Amendola within the former court.

Cinema

In Casamassima were filmed films, fiction and short films:

• Duel at the Rio Grande (film 1963)
• Uerra (2009), short film awarded as "best international short film"
• Pietro Mennea – La freccia del Sud (2015), fiction Rai 1
• In the movie "The Band of Honest Men", Totò (who plays the palace porter, Antonio Buonocore) quotes in a cameo the city of Casamassima, when in storing the envelopes of mail in the boxes of the condominiums he says to himself :"Altobelli... Casamassima". The easter egg is soon explained: Renato Altobelli, projectionist of a cinema in Bari and later established himself as a photographer of the village of Casamassima, was a great friend of Totò, who had decided to cite him in this original way.
• Liberi di scegliere (2018), fiction Rai 1
• Ricchi di Fantasia (2018), film
• Latrin Lover (2019), web serie with Ninni Di Lauro and Piero Bagnardi

Casamassima has two patrons: Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which is celebrated on the last Sunday of July, and Saint Roch, which is celebrated on the second Sunday of September. The statue of the saint is carried in procession with a rich silver cloak donated by the emigrants of Casamassima and covered with gold jewels, donated from year to year by the devotees for grace requested or received. Coinciding with the beginning of the days of the school year, there is a saying that reads: "To San Rocco, leave the ball and take the bow", referring to how you should leave the games (symbolized by the ball), to put the bow back (typical of school aprons of 20th century).

Another local tradition is that of the 40-year-old girls (seven dolls: Anna, Pagano, Rebecca, Susanna, Lazzaro, Palma and Pasqua).These are exhibited at the beginning of Lent then, every Sunday off Lent, one is removed until Easter.

The town can be reached easily through the main routes Bari-Taranto or:

• SS 100 di Gioia del Colle
• SS 172 dei Trulli

Railway

The country is linked to the rest of Apulia via the railway line of Ferrovie del Sud Est.

La Casamassima railway station is placed on the route "Bari-Putignano (via Casamassima)" of the Ferrovie del Sud Est and connects the country with the capital of the Region and other neighboring municipalities by trains every hour.