TARANTO (anc. Tarentum, q.v.), a seaport of Apulia, Italy, and the capital of a province 5o m. from Lecce W. by N. by road, and 68 m. by rail (44 m. W. by S. from Brindisi). Pop.
(1931) 96,632 (town) 105,946 (commune). The city proper is situated on a rocky island 56 ft. above sea-level, which, in ancient times was a peninsula, the isthmus on the west having been cut through by Ferdinand I. of Aragon. This island sep arates the Gulf of Taranto (Mar Grande) from the deep inlet of the Mar Piccolo, and is sheltered by two other flat islands, San Pietro and San Paolo. This rock is the site of the citadel of the ancient town ; its population is confined within small houses and narrow streets. The Strada Garibaldi along the Mar Piccolo is inhabited by fishermen whose language retains traces of Greek. The cathedral, dedicated to San Cataldo, an Irish bishop, has ex ternally some remains of Saracenic Gothic ; internally it has been completely modernized (retaining however 16 ancient columns in the nave) and the shrine of the patron saint has been termed "an orgy of rococo" (1657). It has a crypt of the 6th or 7th century. There is a museum in the former convent of San Pasquale, with an especially fine collection of vases, terra cottas, and silver ware, jewellery, Greek statuary, mosaics, etc., from Taranto and other sites in Apulia. Adjacent is the Palazzo degli Uffizi, con taining various public offices. To the east, across the swing bridge over the channel connecting the Mar Grande with the Mar Piccolo is the new part of the town, on the site of the main part of the ancient city, extending as far as the Arsenal and even beyond: while the Boyo, with the railway station, lies to the west of the island. Here too is the unimportant commercial harbour. The chief industry is the cultivation of oysters in the Mar Piccolo; besides oysters Taranto carries on a large trade in cozze, a species of large black mussel, which is packed in barrels, with a special sauce. Excellent fish abound in the Mar Piccolo, ninety-three
different species being found. The ebb and flow of the tide is distinctly visible here, Taranto being one of the few places in the Mediterranean where it is perceptible. In 1861 the strategic importance of Taranto was recognized, and the arsenal is the most important in Italy after Spezia. It extends for a mile and a half along the southern coast of the Mar Piccolo, which constitutes its chief basin. The receiving-dock and the anchorage for torpedo boats, with its wide landing-stage, form dependencies : and the Mar Piccolo provides a well-sheltered anchorage, 36 ft. deep and 6,325 acres in extent. There is also a large private shipbuilding yard, a brewery, a flourmill, oilmills, etc.
In 927 Taranto was entirely destroyed by the Saracens, but rebuilt (though henceforth restricted to the island) in 967 by Nicephorus Phocas, to whom is due the construction of the bridge over the channel to the north-west of the town, and of the aqueduct which passes over it. The town was taken by Robert Guiscard in 1063. His son Bohemund became prince of the Terra &Otranto, with his capital here. After his death Roger II. of Sicily gave it to his son William the Bad. In 13o1 Philip, the son of Charles II. of Anjou, became prince of Taranto. The mu sician Giovanni Paisiello (1741-1816) was born here. The castle, originally Byzantine, dates in its present form from 148o and 1577. The tarantula (see below), inhabits the neighbourhood of Taranto. The wild dance, called tarantella (q.v.), was supposed, by causing perspiration, to drive out the poison of the bite. (T. A.)