Cantina della Sfida, History museum and national monument in Barletta, Italy
The Cantina della Sfida stands on Piazza della Sfida in the old town of Barletta. The building is a former cellar, now a history museum and national monument, with a vaulted interior arranged with period furnishings and reconstructions of the banquet that preceded the 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 cantina's name refers to the challenge, or sfida, that tradition links to the 1503 banquet held in this room. Inside, the walls carry the coats of arms of the thirteen Italian knights, and an epitaph of 1583 by Ferrante Caracciolo was 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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