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The Colossus of Barletta, better known locally as Heraclius (Arè in the local dialect), is a gigantic bronze statue, 4.50 m high, dating from the fifth century. Located in front of the left side of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre of Barletta, the Byzantine work probably depicts the Emperor Theodosius II and was probably erected by Valentinian III in Ravenna in 439.
The tradition, narrated by the writings of a Jesuit of the seventeenth century, says that the Colossus, forged by Polifobo, was removed by the Venetians during the sack of Constantinople in 1204, and abandoned during the return trip on the beach of Barletta because of the navigation made critical by a storm and heavy load. Chemical analysis of the last restorations, however, did not find any signs of the statue remaining at sea.
The version preferred by historians in recent years comes from a 1279 account of the Minorite friar Tommaso da Pavia. Between 1231 and 1232 a colossal statue was found during the excavations carried out by Emperor Frederick II of Swabia in Ravenna: therefore it is possible that Frederick II, a passionate researcher of antiquities and engaged in the renovatio empires, had the precious statue transported to Puglia.
The only certain and documented information of the Colossus dates back to 1309, when the Dominicans of Manfredonia asked and obtained from Charles II of Anjou permission to remove and merge the limbs of the statue, located at that time at the customs of Barletta, to make bells for their church. In fact recent studies have attested that at least the head and the bust of the statue are original, while the legs are rear.
The statue remained in the customs of the port of Barletta until 1491 when, on commission of the citizens of Barletta, rebuilt the legs and arms by the sculptor Fabio Alfano of Naples in a very different form from the original style, was placed in its current location under the Seat of the People, a marble loggia with a pointed sixth of the Renaissance period built on the eastern wall of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre and demolished in 1925.
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