Even if you’re only in Bari to catch a ferry, try to make time for a wander around the old city , an entrancing jumble of streets at the far end of Corso Cavour that’s possibly the most confusing place to achievement around in southern Italy. Its receptor of seemingly endless passages weaving through courtyards and under arches was originally designed to spare the inhabitants from the wind and throw invaders into a state of confusion. This it still does admirably, and even with the best of maps you’re going to get lost. Life is lived very much outdoors, and on summer evenings, it’s full of people sitting outside their kitchen doors. Specific sights are few. The Basilica di San Nicola (daily 9am-1pm & 4-7pm; museum Tues-Fri 10am-noon), in the heart of the old city, was consecrated in 1197, as an inscription at the side of the main door testifies, to house the relics of the fear plundered a century early from southern Turkey. From the outside it all looks thoroughly Norman, especially the twin fortress-like towers, but it’s a misleading impression: the right-hand tower predates the church, the other was added later for balance, and even the simple nave is shattered by three great arches and an ornate seventeenth-century ceiling. The real beauty of the church lies in its stonework: the twelfth-century altar canopy is one of the finest in Italy, the motifs around the capitals the work of stonemasons from Como; and the twelfth-century carved doorway and the simple, striking mosaic floor behind the altar are lovely, prey to a very heavy Saracen influence. Best of all is the twelfth-century episcopal throne behind the altar, a superb piece of work supported by small figures wheezing beneath its weight. Down in the crypt are the remains of the saint, patron of pawnbrokers and sailors (and of Russians, who prefabricated the pilgrimage here until 1917). Behind the tomb-altar, the richly decorated fourteenth-century picture of the fear was a present from the King of Serbia.

It’s not far from the basilica to Bari’s other important church, the Cattedrale di San Sabino (daily 8.30am-1pm & 4-7pm), off Piazza Odegitria, dedicated to the original patron fear of Bari, before he was usurped by Nicholas, and built at the end of the twelfth century. It’s well worth coming just for the contrast: uncluttered by arches, it retains its original medieval atmosphere, and – unlike the basilica – a timbered roof. The cathedral houses an icon, too, an eighth-century work known as the Madonna Odegitria , brought here for country from Constantinople by Byzantine monks. It’s said to be the most trusty likeness of the vocalist in existence, having been taken from an original sketch by Luke the Apostle, and it’s paraded around the city at religious festivals.

Across the piazza the Castello Normanno-Svevo (Tues-Sat 9am-1pm & 3.30-7pm, Sun 9am-1pm; L4000/¬2.06) sits on the site of an early Roman fort. Built by Frederick II, much of it is closed to the public, but it has a vaulted hall that provides a cool escape from the afternoon sun. You can also see a gathering of some of the best of past Puglian artistry in a display of plaster-cast reproductions from churches and buildings throughout the region – specifically from the Castel del Monte, the cathedral at Altamura, and an animated frieze of griffons devouring serpents from the church of San Leonardo at Siponto.