Volturara Appula
# Volturara Appula

Volturara Appula is a town and comune in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. Once a flourishing city, the comune now has a population of less than 400.

## History

The date of his foundation is not known; the first historical paper citing it, is a document of Pope Giovanni (John) XIII that, in 969 A.D., lists Volturara as a bishopric, depending from Benevento. Vulturaria, as it was previously called, was ruled in various times by its bishops, and by a number of noble families, including a branch of Caracciolos that built the so said 'Dukedom Palace'.

## Main sights

The Apulian Romanesque cathedral was built in the 13th century. It has a massive bell-tower with three bells of bronze with a noteworthy percentage of silver. Another church, the 16th-century Santuario di Maria SS. della Sanità (Shrine of Our Lady of Health) was reputedly built by Marquis Bartolomeo Caracciolo in thanksgiving for recovery from illness.

## Bishopric

Its bishopric, the Diocese of Vulturara, was united with that of Diocese of Montecorvino to form the Diocese of Vulturara e Montecorvino in 1433. Giuseppe Cappelletti gives detailed information about most of its bishops. In 1818, upon a reorganization of the dioceses within the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the diocese ceased to exist as a residential see and its territory became part of the diocese of Lucera. It is now included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees.

## People

Giuseppe Conte, the Prime Minister of Italy in 2018-2021 was born in Volturara, but grew up in San Giovanni Rotondo.

