"Canusium" was a very important city in Roman times and has a series of historical archaeological sites to be enchanted. The vast cultural heritage, which extends over time and space, is not concentrated in a single archaeological area, but is scattered throughout the city, which can be turned and explored in search of the most interesting points to discover.
Canosa is located in that area of Puglia identifiable with the ancient Daunia, whose most significant traces are the Hypogea. These are underground sepulchral constructions, consisting of several rooms and reserved for the Dauni nobility. They date back to the 4th century BC. and they preserve very well the structure, very solid, with refined architectural and pictorial decorations.
Of the Hellenistic age, there are no monuments but finds of great importance: they are the famous Canosa vases, known for their polychrome pictorial decorations, found in some sepulchral areas, and now visible in the museum of Palazzo Sinesi, an essential stop in the visit to Canosa, because it contains inside the treasures coming from the sites especially Greek and Roman. A great deal remains of the Roman world in Canosa, and in particular in this case two main archaeological areas can be distinguished, the archaeological park of San Leucio and that of San Giovanni.
The park is located not far from the town, on the San Leucio hill and is surrounded by a natural and suggestive landscape, rich in olive trees.
There are the remains of the largest early Christian basilica in Puglia, with floor mosaics still visible today. Dating from the 6th century AD, and therefore influenced by the Byzantine style, the basilica was built using the layout of a previous pagan temple dedicated to Minerva Atena Ilias, of the Hellenistic age, of which the capitals preserved in the Antiquarium of the archaeological park remain .
In addition to this temple there was another, dedicated to Jupiter Taurus, built in the second century AD. to celebrate the greatness of the city that had acquired the new status of Cologne, by Antonino Pio. It was supposed to be a hexastyle peripteral temple with a high podium and of monumental and grandiose dimensions, but few fragmentary traces remain.
The San Giovanni area, on the other hand, is located in the center of the town, and refers particularly to the Roman and late ancient times. In particular, there are the remains of a 6th century building known as the baptistery of San Giovanni and some remains of two Christian basilicas.
Some elements of the previous Roman phase can be recognized within the same site, in fact, the baptistery stood where the ancient Via Traiana passed, of which some traces remain, around which a residential area developed. Just along this street is the celebratory arch of Trajan, with a single arch, now visible in the brick structure, without the original marble cladding.
The Via Traiana continued outside the urban area, where it is possible to see what was originally a Roman bridge, which allowed the continuation of the road beyond the Ofanto river, but its extraordinary state of conservation must not deceive, because the The structure was rebuilt in the Middle Ages and then restructured over time, because it was used as a passage infrastructure until the last century.
In addition to the two main archaeological parks there are other scattered monuments, but no less important.
In the center of the city there are two thermal complexes. The first saying of the Terme di Ferrara, was public, dates back to the 2nd century AD. and only part of the walls are preserved in different styles opus vittatum, mixtum and reticolatum. From these spas comes a mosaic with black and white tesserae representing a marine scene, exhibited in piazza delle terme in Canosa. The Lomuscium thermal baths, on the other hand, were private, their structure, made up of some apsidal rooms, can be observed.
A domus dating back to the first century has also been found, with frescoes and mosaic decorations that are kept in Palazzo Sinesi.
The facade is certainly not medieval. It is the result of one of the many alterations to which this church has been subjected. To be deceived by the facade, we would have to leave and look for something that has at least the air of medieval but if you enter, and you get to the presbytery area of San Sabino you will discover the heart of this ancient church, which dates back, at least to the official sources, at the time of the Lombards (VII-VIII) century. In reality, recent works have dated back its origin until the Justinian era, to which at least one of the domes dates back, which was cleaned of the layers of plaster.
