In the Santa Maria a Bitetto area on via Stazio, stands one of the only mediaeval buildings that was not destroyed after the fire of 1156, Casa Francese, and that takes its name from the French family who owned the building.
The building is surrounded by a brick wall alternating with detailed, intricate work in squared stone, the small windows and simple stone frames without decorations, give the building an austere appearance typical of the period of its realisation.
The building could be an example of a castled house or tower house, that is to say a kind of small fortress as the remains of a wall in the hanging garden inside the tenement seem to suggest the pre-existence of a tower.
The 14th century ogival portal opens on an indoor court and a sober brick staircase leads to the upper floors.
Traduzione: classe 3ALL del Liceo linguistico statale Giannina Milli
