1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Gravina

GRAVINA, a town and episcopal see of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Bari, from which it is 63 m. S.W. by rail (29 m. direct), 1148 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 18,197. The town is probably of medieval origin, though some conjecture that it occupies the site of the ancient Blera, a post station on the Via Appia. The cathedral is a basilica of the 15th century. The town is surrounded with walls and towers, and a castle of the emperor Frederick II. rises above the town, which later belonged to the Orsini, dukes of Gravina; just outside it are dwellings and a church (S. Michele) all hewn in the rock, and now abandoned.

Prehistoric remains in the district (remains of ancient settlements, tumuli, &c.) are described by V. di Cicco in Notizie degli scavi (1901), p. 217.