Bari Vecchia is 1 square kilometer of medieval alleys, 40 churches, and the WOMEN. On Via Arco Basso (Strada delle Orecchiette), grandmothers sit at trestle tables in the street making orecchiette — the ear-shaped pasta of Puglia — by hand, in public, for sale. €5/kg fresh. They've been doing this for generations. The tables are there every morning. Behind them: the Basilica di San Nicola, which holds the STOLEN bones of St. Nicholas (the real Santa Claus, stolen from Myra in Turkey by Barese sailors in 1087, and the city has never apologized). Bari Vecchia had a rough reputation until 10 years ago. Now it's alive — safe, restored, and the most authentic urban food experience in southern Italy.
Strada delle Orecchiette (Via Arco Basso): THE street — grandmothers rolling, shaping, drying pasta on tables outside their doors. Buy fresh orecchiette (€5/kg), trecce, cavatelli. They work mornings. Go before noon. Basilica di San Nicola (1087-1197): Built SPECIFICALLY to house the stolen relics of St. Nicholas of Myra. Romanesque facade, a crypt where the saint's bones rest in a silver-and-glass altar. Russians, Greeks, and Turks all come here on pilgrimage — some to venerate, some to protest the theft. Free. Cattedrale di San Sabino (12th century): Another Romanesque basilica — less famous, equally beautiful. The Trulla (external baptistery) has remains of an early Christian baptismal font.
The alleys: Get lost. The old city is 1km wide. You'll find a church every 25 meters. Piazza Mercantile: The social piazza — the Colonna della Giustizia (the shame column where debtors were tied). Lungomare: Walk the seafront promenade — 1km of Adriatic horizon. The most underrated lungomare in Italy.
Terranima (Via Putignani 213-215): Orecchiette con cime di rapa (the Pugliese anthem dish). €10. Biancofiore (Via Calefati): Raw fish (crudo barese — sea urchin, octopus, prawns). Focaccia barese: Buy at any forno — tomato, olive, thick, oily, the Barese breakfast. €2/piece. Panzerotto: Fried half-moon of dough filled with mozzarella+tomato. €2. Panificio Fiore (Strada Palazzo di Città) is the most famous.
Bari is a GATEWAY: Airport (Ryanair hub — cheap flights from all Europe). Train to Alberobello (1.5h), Lecce (1.5h), Matera (1h). Stay 1-2 nights: Bari Vecchia deserves an overnight — the evening passeggiata along the lungomare + dinner in the old city = the REAL Puglia. Puglia →