Siponto

Siponto (Latin: "Sipontum") was an ancient port town of Apulia in southern Italy. The town was abandoned after earthquakes in the 13th century; today the area is administered as a "frazione" of the "comune" of Manfredonia, in the province of Foggia.

Geography

Siponto is located around 3 km south of Manfredonia.

History

According to legend, Sipontum was founded by Diomedes, product of the union of the Homeric hero of the same name with the daughter of the king of the Dauni. Siponto was probably founded by the Dauni. Sipontum was a flourishing Greek colony; having fallen into the hands of the Samnites, it was retaken about 335 B. C. by King Alexander of Epirus, uncle of Alexander the Great. In 189 B. C. it became a Roman colony, and in A. D. 663 it was taken and destroyed by the Slavs. In the ninth century, Sipontum was for a time in the power of the Saracens; ln 1042 the Normans made it the seat of one of their twelve counties. The latter won a decisive victory there over the Byzantine general Argyrus in 1052. According to legend, the Gospel was preached at Sipontum by St. Peter and by St. Mark; more trust, however, may be placed in the tradition of the martyrdom of the priest St. Justin and his companions under Gallienus and Maximian about 255. The first bishop, whose date may be fixed, was Felix, who was at Rome in 465. In the time of Bishop Lawrence, during the reign of Gelasius I (492-496), took place on Mt. Gargano the apparition of St. Michael, in memory of which the famous Monastery of the Archangel was founded. About 688 Pope Vitalian was obliged to entrust to the bishops of Benevento the pastoral care of Sipontum, which was almost abandoned, but the see was re-established in 1034, and under Bishop Saint Gerard (1066) it became an archdiocese. The ancient cathedral remained still at Sipontum, but, with the building of Manfredonia, made by King Manfred of Sicily who decided to rebuild Siponto in a new location, the archiepiscopal see was transferred to the latter city.

Notes

References

*Cappelletti, "Le Chiese d'Italia", XX (Venice, 1857)
*(Benigni, U.) (1910), "Catholic Encyclopedia". (New York: Robert Appleton Company), "s.v." "Archdiocese of Manfredonia. Retrieved July 31, 2008 [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09588a.htm New Advent]