History of Locorotondo

In the fifth century AD, Byzantine groups settled in the “Valle d'Itria”. With the domination of the Lombards (VI-VII century AD), the first settlements of farmer reinforced. The vicissitudes of war and destruction of villages along the coast  forced the population to move to the “Murgia Plateau”. The new populations revitalized the oldest settlements creating new ones, from which would arise in the following centuries the first hamlets, as Locorotondo, so called for the circular shape of its topographical configuration.

In the fifteenth century it  belonged to the Del Balzo-Orsini, and it was then given by the Aragonese to Pirro Loffredo (16th century). At the  end of the fifteenth century it passed to the Carafa and  the sixteenth century became a fief of Baron  Ottavio Loffredo( 17th century). In 1645 the town was purchased by Counts Caracciolo, who kept it until the early nineteenth century.

Etymology

The etymology of the name is clear, resulting from the union of two Latin words "locus" (place) and "rotundus" (round). The origin is medieval, although the area of Locorotondo, according to recent excavations, was certainly inhabited in prehistoric times. The first document attesting to the presence of a village with this name dates back to an imperial privilege of 1195, written by King Henry VI of Swabia (1050-1106) in Cesena, May 19, 1195 to the Benedictine Monastery of Santo Stefano. In this document, the place is identified as "Locum qui dicitur rotundus , cum omnibus olivis, cineis, aquariis, et pertinentiis suis et in  eo  Ecclesiam Santi  Georgii ";  or how " a place  called “Rotondo”, with all the olive trees, vineyards, wells, and all its appliances, and the Church of San Giorgio, which is located in that place. " According to the studies of Giovanni  Liuzzi it was called, "[...]  'Locus Rotundus' (in the first half of the thirteenth century), 'Locusrotundus' ( from the second half of the thirteenth to the end of 15th century).

In the  Modern Age the 'Locorotondo' place-name was called in various ways, such as ‘Rotondi’ (at the time in which it was confiscated to Alessandro Carafa[1484-1505]), and “Ritondo”, “‘Ritondo' hamlet” [...]" (See Giovanni Liuzzi, “Monaci e baroni: storia dei feudi del territorio di Locorotondo” ["Monks and barons of the feudal history of the territory of Locorotondo], Schena, 1998:  14-16, 49, 101). In conclusion, the name simply means "place [fortified] with a circular shape." I added the word "fortified" because often in the Italian Middle Ages the  word "locus" (place) was more or less synonymous with "castrum" (fortified place). In fact we find  in medieval documents  both the aforesaid names; for  example, next to the definition of "Locus" “rotundus”, there is also “'Castro' Loci Rotundo”. Then, around the fortified "castra", the "hamlets" born (Lat. "casalia"), which could be defined almost as the earliest form of rural settlement in an area that they wanted to reclaim and make it suitable for agriculture. In fact, in some medieval documents Locorotondo is defined precisely as a "casale" (“hamlet”): “Monasterium Sancti Stephani supradicti (de Monopulo) tenet 'casale' Loci Rotundi", or “The aforesaid Monastery of Santo Stefano (of Monopoli) has the  'Locorotondo hamlet"(see Giovanni Liuzzi: 24, note 17; and “The Red Book of the City of Monopoli”, edited by F. Muciaccia, 1906: 135).