Mystery Revealed, no. 12

Well, it was not too much of a mystery for VP, bfarr and Eleonora to guess that yesterday's Mystery Photo showed mooring rings. These are located along the port for fishing boats to tie up to while they are in harbour. 

Monthly Theme Day: My Favorite Part of Town

My favorite part of town is the port, it's a nice place to take a walk most days of the year and most times of day.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Fishmobile

This mobile fish shop which, if you believe what's written on its blue backdrop, offers "the best of the sea," reminds me of the bookmobile of my childhood in the US.

Gone Fishin'

A Flock of Seagulls

A flock of Molfettan seagulls feeding in the area that is being developed into a commercial harbor.

And A Flock of Seagulls with funny hair...

Guardia Costieria

The Coast Guard office on Molfetta's harbour is located next to the Duomo.

Blog Status

I have been having a great deal of computer "issues" this month, as you may have noticed from the lack of posts in the last two weeks. We had no phone line, nor adsl, at my house for 10 days. Then my husband did a much needed overhaul of my whole pc, reinstalling everything and sort of giving the system a clean slate - which it really needed. But there are still some bugs to be worked out, such as the fact that the pc now doesn't recognize my camera's memory card and so I can't download any photos! But, these minor wrinkles will soon be worked out and Molfetta Daily Photo will be up and running again.

In the meantime, please enjoy what is considered to be Molfetta's nicest skyline.

Patron Saint's Festival

All types and sizes of boats accompany the Madonna around and around the port in Molfetta's patron saint's festival.
Rowboats

Motorboats

Boats in uniform

And some somewhat undressed!

Aerial Views of Molfetta

I don't often get a chance to fly over Molfetta snapping photos on the wing, but a friend of a friend of mine does! And he was kind enough to let me post the aerial shots I'll be showing you over the next few days.

This shot shows the seafront promenade (bottom left), the regional seminary (center left), the historical center (center right) - and here you can really see how it was once an island - and the commercial and tourist harbours (upper right). You can also get a feel for how very flat the land is around here.

Sunset over the Port

A red summer sunset over the port, including a view of the lighthouse to the right, the cranes being used to build the new commercial harbour in the center, the very small and distant outline of the Madonna dei Martiri church to the left, just in front of the church are a rowing team practicing for the ongoing 2009 Trofeo dell'Adriatico (Molfetta is currently in 3rd place), and, in the foreground there is one of the large stone posts that boats tie onto when docked in the port.

Molfetta Postcard

A classic shot of the Molfettan skyline with small fishing boats and pleasure craft in the foreground. I believe this is the view of our city that all emigrants hold dear to their heart when far away.

Molfettan Faces - Michele

Michele's family is one of the wealthiest in Molfetta, they own a large company that produces industrial drills. He works for the family firm and travels a great deal around the world. He was a wild and crazy kind of guy in his youth and was the lead singer of a band called I Figli delle Stelle, which specialised in raunchy humor and parodies of famous songs 1970s style (think large wigs and platform shoes). They reunited last summer for a hilarious concert here in town.

In this photo, Michele is standing on his family's 42-foot yacht, the very largest pleasure craft in Molfetta's harbor...by a long shot!

Il Duomo di San Corrado

This is a view of the side entrance to the Duomo, the 12th century church dedicated to Saint Conrad which is located on the harbour and featured in my header photo. This church is considered to be the finest example of Apulian-Romanesque architecture around. Apulian-Romanesque architecture is notable for its clean, almost completely undecorated lines.

Fishing Boat

This sweet little blue boat is someone's means of support.

Lamp-post

A decorative lamp-post on the port.

Harbour View

Molfetta's harbour looks pretty much the same in winter as it does in summer. Compare for yourself with the photo in my header (above). But the light, the light is very different.

Cassa di Risparmio

This small yellow building is located on the port across from the Monument to the Mariner. If you look at the photo in my blog header, this building is located just out of the photo on the right.

The inscription "Cassa Di Risparmio" means this was once a savings bank. It currently houses some of the city offices. If you enlarge the photo you can see that some city employee has cultivated quite a few plants in one of the windows on the side of the building!

The smaller kiosk to the left is an ice-cream shop called Gelateria Lena. It has been there a long time, I believe at least as far back as the 1970s.

The quality of the photo is not great as it was taken at dusk...my little Kodak tries its best, but we can only ask so much of it! ;-)

Monument to the Mariner

This monument to the mariner is located on the port. The base is a stylised wave on which are perched the mariner (the rather phallic looking bit!), his fishing rod and boat.

The monument was designed and constructed in 1999 by Giuseppe Maraniello, who is not a local artist. He participated in a design competition and his proposal was selected by a local jury.

It was received by the majority of Molfettans with great skepticism and criticism. I think they had something a bit more traditional in mind.

Personally, I like it.

The Port

Molfetta's port hosts not only 116 fishing boats but is also an active center of maritime commerce. Until the 1960s it was one of the most important ports in the region of Puglia and one of the most important sources of employment for Molfettan men. They would go to sea for a week, month, or even a year at a time.