BRINDISI (anc. Brundisium, q.v.), archiepiscopal see, Apulia, Italy, province of Lecce, 24m. N.W. by rail from Lecce, and 346m. from Ancona. Pop. 37,965 (town) ; 39,658 (commune). The sheltered inner harbour, Soft. and more in depth, allows ocean steamers to lie at the quays.
The castle of Frederick II. with huge round towers, guarded the inner harbour. The cathedral, ruined by earthquakes, was restored in 1743-49, but has some remains of its mosaic pavement . The baptismal church of S. Giovanni al Sepolcro (11th century) is now a museum. S. Benedetto (1o8o) is another in teresting church. The town was destroyed in 836 by Saracens, but rebuilt (II th century) by Lupus the protospatharius or Byzan tine governor. In 1071 it fell into the hands of the Normans, and it frequently appears in the history of the Crusades. Early in the 14th century the inner port was blocked by Giovanni Orsini, prince of Taranto; the town was devastated by pestilence in 1348, plun dered in 1352 and 1383 ; but even greater damage was done by the earthquake of 1456. It was an important naval base in 1915 18, when the harbour was considerably deepened.