Built close to the Old Town since the early nineteenth century, the Murat District of Bari is the current new part of the city center, located between two extremes that are Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and Piazza della Libertà. On the latter face of important buildings such as the City Hall and the Teatro Niccolò Piccinni.
The district takes its name from Joachim Murat (Marshal of Napoleon Bonaparte), who inaugurated and supported, during his government at the head of the Kingdom of Naples, the construction of the new area of Bari near the ancient medieval city.
The main street of the district is Corso Cavour, along which there is the historic Teatro Petruzzelli, while Piazza Mercantile is the commercial heart, which are also the backdrop, however, precious buildings such as the Renaissance Palazzo del Sedile (ancient seat of the city assemblies) and the Column of Justice (which were linked to people who did not pay off their debts).
The Murat District represents the “rationalist” taste of 19th century French architecture and consists of an organic network of streets interspersed, in a discontinuous manner, with green spaces.