Underground tomb in Palazzo Delli Ponti

In Taranto, in the heart of the Old City, there is Palazzo Delli Ponti, built in the 18th century by the brothers Niccolò and Cataldo. During the restoration works in the 19th century, they brought to light more ancient and precious treasure than the palace itself.

A thousand- years old story echoes off the several layers of the palace: from the eighteenth-century noble rooms, you go down to the heart’s core. Here you can admire the ruins of the Greek walls, dating back to the 5th century BC, and a wonderful late-antiquity rock-hewn burial site: 11 burials and 10 arcosolium burials.

The tombs, which used to be decorated with painted plaster, have been plundered over the centuries, but they still have their original charm. The dead persons buried here were Christian and this is the evidence that in Taranto there was a quite large Christian community.