GALLIPOLI, BARLETTA, BITONTO, RUTIGLIANO, OSTUNI, NARDO’, COPERTINO and GROTTAGLIE are among the many small towns, sometimes barely villages, with a documented Jewish presence as early as Roman times. Larger or smaller groups (sometimes just a few families) alternated between settling down and moving around between these various centers up to the expulsion of 1541. In many cases all that is left of their presence is a mention in documents or specific street names (Vico degli Ebrei, Largo Giudecca, Via Giudea).
Image: Cupertino Castle, 1540
