Torre della Santissima Annunziata

This tall tower is actually the baroque bell tower of an old Dominican convent that has withstood several centuries, unlike much of what once surrounded it. The large convent, funded by the local community, housed orphans known as the Oblate women. They were cloistered for life and trained in embroidery and sewing. By 1824, the convent had grown wealthy enough to purchase the neighboring building. The sisters then had a narrow aerial passage, called the camminatoio, built to span the alley and connect the two structures. This allowed them to move between the buildings without ever stepping foot on the street, walking above the people of Bari. In 1899, Italian laws banning religious congregations abruptly forced the sisters out. The convent was then converted into a retirement home for disabled women, a role it kept until 1945. Just a month before the end of World War II, on the morning of April 2, the American cargo ship Charles Henderson moored in the port exploded. On board were nearly seven thousand tons of bombs and ammunition. The smoke from the explosion reached three hundred meters high. Iron debris flew as far as fifteen kilometers, and the windows of all of Bari Vecchia shattered. Three hundred seventeen people died, possibly more. The convent was left in ruins. For four days, the Allies imposed silence, and no newspapers could report on it. The exact cause of the explosion has never been officially determined. When the city council demolished the ruins in 1955, only the tower was spared. Today, in what remains of the building, charities continue to welcome children in need, paying tribute to the original purpose of the structure.