Bed Breakfast Santa Maria del Buon Consiglio

Ruderi di Santa Maria del Buon Consiglio is an open-air archaeological site in Bari Vecchia, near Piazza Mercantile. Its ruins are often used for local events, concerts, and art exhibitions, and walking tours around Bari Vecchia sometimes point it out as a hidden gem. It feels like a place that holds many layers of Bari's past, from Roman and Byzantine times through the Norman and medieval periods. There isn't a sign explaining the history, so I asked AI. It says the remains are thought to date to the 11th-12th century, in Bari's Norman period. The church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary as Buon Consiglio, or Good Counsel, a devotion popular in medieval Italy. It may have been built over earlier Byzantine foundations, or possibly even older ones. Some scholars suggest a pagan or late Roman structure could have stood there before the church. The small church was Romanesque, like Basilica di San Nicola and Bari Cathedral (San Sabino), with columns, arches, and decorative stonework. What remains now are column bases, wall fragments, and some capitals that hint at its layout. It eventually fell into ruin, perhaps through neglect, earthquakes, or war damage. By modern times it was no longer used as a church and had been abandoned, with only its foundations and partial structures visible.

We saw it with a tour guide. It looks like the remains of an old church, with a main nave and side naves. Apparently kids play soccer here nowadays.

Stumbling across this in Bari's old town was a nice surprise. I lowered my rating because there's no explanation of what the site is.

Roman ruins are always impressive to see.