MANFREDONIA  , a

town and archiepiscopal see (with Viesti) of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Foggia, from which it is 22a M . N.E. by rail, situated on the coast, facing E., 13 ft. above sea-level, to- the south of Monte Gargano, and giving its name to the gulf to the east of it . Pop . (1901), 11,549 . It was founded by Manfred in 1263, and destroyed by the Turks in 162o; but the medieval castle of the Angevins and parts of the town walls are well preserved . In the church of S . Domenico, the chapel of the Maddalena contains old paintings of the 14th century . Two miles to the south-west is the fine cathedral of S . Maria Maggiore di Siponto, built in "7 in the Romanesque style, with a dome and crypt . S . Leonardo, nearer Foggia, belonging to the Teutonic order, is of the same date . This marks the site of the ancient Sipontum, the harbour of Arpi, which became a Roman colony in 194 s.C., and was not deserted in favour of Manfredonia until the 13th century, having become unhealthy owing to the stagnation of the water in the lagoons .

See A . Beltramelli, Il Gargano (

Bergamo, 1907) . (T .