Cantina della Sfida, History museum and national monument in Barletta, Italy
The Cantina della Sfida is a history museum and national monument located in Piazza della Sfida, in the old town of Barletta, in southern Italy. The interior is set up with period furnishings and reconstructions evoking the banquet that preceded the famous duel of 1503.
In 1503, a French knight named La Motte is said to have insulted the honor of Italian soldiers during a banquet held at this cantina, which led to the Disfida di Barletta. Thirteen Italian knights led by Ettore Fieramosca then fought against thirteen French opponents and won.
The walls inside the Cantina della Sfida are decorated with the coats of arms of the thirteen Italian knights who took part in the duel. Visitors can also read an epitaph from 1583, written by Ferrante Caracciolo and later completed with verses by Giovanni Bovio in 1903.
The cantina sits in the heart of Barletta and is easy to reach on foot from the main streets of the old town. Admission is free, though opening hours are split between morning and afternoon sessions.
The site was declared a national monument in 1937, even though the duel itself did not take place in Barletta but on a field between the towns of Andria and Corato. The cantina therefore commemorates an event that unfolded somewhere else entirely.
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