TARANTO

   (25), a fortified seaport of South Italy, situated on a rocky islet which lies between the Gulf of Taranto and the Mare Piccolo, a broad inlet on the E., 72 m. S. of Bari; is well built, and contains various interesting buildings, including a cathedral and castle; is connected with the mainland on the E. by a six-arched bridge, and by an ancient aqueduct on the W.; some textile manufactures are carried on, and oyster and mussel fisheries and fruit-growing are important; as the ancient Tarentum its history goes back to the time when it was the chief city of Magna Græcia; was captured by the Romans in 272 B.C., and after the fall of the Western Empire was successively in the hands of Goths, Lombards, and Saracens, and afterwards shared the fate of the kingdom of Naples, to which it was united in 1063.