Cassano delle Murge

• Name — Cassano delle Murge • Official Name — Comune di Cassano delle Murge • Image Shield — Cassano delle Murge-Stemma.png • Shield Alt — Coat of arms of Cassano • Pushpin Label Position — bottom • Region — Apulia • Metropolitan City — Bari (BA) • Mayor — Mariapia Di Medio • Area Total Km2 — 89 • Population Total — 13260 • Population As Of — 31 December 2008 • Population Demonym — Cassanesi • Elevation M — 341 • Saint — Maria SS. degli Angeli • Day — 2 August • Postal Code — 70020 • Area Code — 080 Cassano delle Murge (Barese: Casséne) is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy.

It probably derives from the Latin name Cassius with the addition of the suffix -anus. According to others, the name refers to the ancient worship of Janus to whom a small temple was dedicated, that is, Jani's house. From this derives the toponym of the town "Casa Jani" Actually, this derivation, proposed by the historian Nicola Alessandrelli, is rather doubtful, as "house" in Latin corresponds to domus. An alternative hypothesis is that the name derives from the Cassia gens. In the high imperial age, the wholeof Puglia was the object of centuriation by the Romans, so it could be Cassianum, that is, property of the Cassia family. From archaeological excavations carried out, it seems that the cardo maximus (Via Sanges-Via Cavour axis) and the Decumanus Maximus (Via Gentile-Via Magg. Turitto axis) intersected in the current Piazzetta delle Quattro Colonne. Moreover, Cassano stands on a link road between the Traiana way and the Appian Way, and it seems that the town was a rest station and a Camino dei cavalli. Recently, a Romanic mosaic was discovered under the pavement of Miani Palace, which would prove the existence of a Roman villa, in compliance with the custom of building the most important buildings near the most important crossroads. In Italy, there are seven towns called Cassano, so in 1862 "delle Murge" was added to distinguish it from the others. The specification refers to the well-known Apulian plateau. • Illustration — Cassano delle Murge

Hundreds of stone artefacts, paintings, and various objects found in the caves around the town tell us about prehistoric settlements. The recent discovery of a menhir, dating back to 2500–2000 BC, confirms the antiquity of the human presence in these districts.

The origins of Cassano seem to date back to the Roman Age, as confirmed by many archaeological findings, such as the recent discovery of a precious 5th-century mosaic floor. Also in late antiquity, in a point of the territory called "Lake of Battaglia" a clash relating to the Greek-Gothic War took place between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the troops of the Gothic Totila, during which it would have distinguished itself, for courage, a Cassanese woman dressed as a warrior, distinguished herself, for courage and heroism. To worship her memory, her companions erected a monument to her with a pile of stones, still known today as "Specchia di femina morta". Due to the typical karstic conformation of the area, there are a lot of grottos. The biggest is located about 3 km from the urban built-up area, the grotto called "di Cristo", was discovered in the 17th century. Two kilometres to the east, we find the grave of "Pasciullo", 180 meters deep and still to be explored. Three kilometres to the south-east, a source called "Pozzo di Conetto" gushes. Historical investigations have ascertained the existence of a temple dedicated to Janus in the place where the church of SS. Crucifix is.

The weather of Cassano delle Murge is a cool Mediterranean one, with not very cold winters and hot and dry summers. Rainfall is around 700 mm / year, therefore generally abundant in winter, autumn and spring and rare in summer, from July to September, although there are also thunderstorms in the afternoon. Snow falls almost exclusively in January and February, during the cold air waves from the Balkans or from Northern Europe. In winter, the prevailing wind is the sirocco or libeccio.

• Convento di Maria Santissima degli Angeli • Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta (chiesa matrice – sede parrocchiale) • Chiesa della Madonna delle Grazie (sede parrocchiale) • Chiesa del Santissimo Crocifisso • Chiesa di San Giuseppe • Chiesa di San Nicola • Chiesa di San Rocco • Cappella dell'Immacolata • Cappella della Madonna di Costantinopoli

• Miani Palace

Inhabitants registered by Istituto Nazionale di Statistica. Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:488 height:373 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:20 top:20 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:15000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:5000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1000 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 bar:2011 text:2011 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from:0 till: 4263 bar:1871 from:0 till: 4237 bar:1881 from:0 till: 5004 bar:1901 from:0 till: 6012 bar:1911 from:0 till: 6259 bar:1921 from:0 till: 6312 bar:1931 from:0 till: 6386 bar:1936 from:0 till: 6449 bar:1951 from:0 till: 7280 bar:1961 from:0 till: 7167 bar:1971 from:0 till: 7110 bar:1981 from:0 till: 7877 bar:1991 from:0 till: 10460 bar:2001 from:0 till: 11958 bar:2011 from:0 till: 14270 PlotData= bar:1861 at: 4263 fontsize:S text: 4263 shift:(-10,5) bar:1871 at: 4237 fontsize:S text: 4237 shift:(-10,5) bar:1881 at: 5004 fontsize:S text: 5004 shift:(-10,5) bar:1901 at: 6012 fontsize:S text: 6012 shift:(-10,5) bar:1911 at: 6259 fontsize:S text: 6259 shift:(-10,5) bar:1921 at: 6312 fontsize:S text: 6312 shift:(-10,5) bar:1931 at: 6386 fontsize:S text: 6386 shift:(-10,5) bar:1936 at: 6449 fontsize:S text: 6449 shift:(-10,5) bar:1951 at: 7280 fontsize:S text: 7280 shift:(-10,5) bar:1961 at: 7167 fontsize:S text: 7167 shift:(-10,5) bar:1971 at: 7110 fontsize:S text: 7110 shift:(-10,5) bar:1981 at: 7877 fontsize:S text: 7877 shift:(-10,5) bar:1991 at: 10460 fontsize:S text: 10460 shift:(-10,5) bar:2001 at: 11958 fontsize:S text: 11958 shift:(-10,5) bar:2011 at: 14270 fontsize:S text: 14270 shift:(-10,5)

The foreigners living in Cassano delle Murge are 553. In 2013, the most numerous groups were: • Albania, 402 • Romania, 122

Cassano delle Murge has been transformed into a film set on several occasions. Between 1930 and 1931, the Milanese director Mauri made one of the last silent movies of the Italian cinema, but one of the first silent movies made in Apulia. Idillio infranto – Film folkloristico pugliese, this title had the female Mantovani protagonist Mantovani and a cast of amateur actors, with Michele Silecchia and Filippo Ilbello. Shootings were carried out by the photographer Perugini, and some scenes were filmed in the countryside of the Murgia, near Cassano delle Murge. The movie, in black and white, lasts 53 minutes. Another movie is Three brothers (1981), a film by Francesco Rosi with Michele Placido, Philippe Noiret, Vittorio Mezzogiorno, Charles Vanel. In 2004 the Apulian director Sergio Rubini filmed Love Returns, with Margherita Buy and Mariangela Melato.

In 2016, the Apulia Land art Festival was held by Massimo Nardi. Over 20 countries in the world took part, almost 100 artists were asked to take part, and 11 of them were invited to the final competition. Embassies of every culture, the artists of the recent edition of ALAF were characterised by extremely different, heterogeneous and, at the same time, complementary curricula. Harvard, Cambridge, University College of London, IED, Academy of Bulgaria and many others are the institutions represented, making an urbi et orbi of art in the silvanico Bosco di Mesola, which, as expected by the festival's statements, becomes, for a week, one of the protagonists of the Italian contemporary art scenes.

Among the most traditional and renowned activities there are handicrafts, which are distinguished by the production of wicker and Juncus, used for the creation of furniture.

Below is a table relating to the successive administrations in this town. • Period — Office holder — Party — Title — Notes • 12 May 1986 — 14 July 1990 — Armando Giorgio — Democrazia Cristiana — Sindaco • 14 July 1990 — 25 September 1991 — Paolo Nuzzaco — Democrazia Cristiana — Sindaco • 26 October 1991 — 24 April 1995 — Giuseppe Leporale — Partito Repubblicano Italiano — Sindaco • 24 April 1995 — 14 June 1999 — Giuseppe Antonio Leporale — Centro-sinistra — Sindaco • 14 June 1999 — 14 June 2004 — Giuseppe Gentile — Centro-sinistra — Sindaco • 14 June 2004 — 8 June 2009 — Giuseppe Gentile — Lista civica — Sindaco • 9 June 2009 — 26 May 2014 — Maria Pia Di Medio — Lista civica — Sindaco • 26 May 2014 — 7 December 2016 — Vito Domenico Lionetti — Lista civica Rinascita verso nuovi orizzonti — Sindaco • 9 December 2016 — 12 June 2017 — Francesco Antonio Cappetta — - — Commissario prefettizio • 12 June 2017 — in carica — Maria Pia Di Medio — Lista civica X te — Sindaco

• ASD Atletico Cassano – Futsal amateur football club, member of the serie A2 championship. • ASD Volley Cassano – Amateur volleyball club member of the youth sector and of the serie D championship. • ASD Cassano skating – Amateur roller skating society that annually participates in regional and national championships.

• Anna Rita Del Piano, Italian actress and theatre director • Antonio Quatraro, European Commission official. • Domenico Turitto, Italian officer during the First Italo-Ethiopian War