Taranto was the most important Greek colony in the southern tip of Italy, an important harbour town. This was the town Rome had to destroy to gain absolute hegemony in Italy.

Taranto was called Taras in Greek times, and the Greek letters spelling the name are clearly identifiable on the shard. The waypoint marks the historic center of town, situated on a small island which separates the bay to the west from two lagunes liying east of it: As you can see, an almost perfect spot for setting up a harbour.

Today, Taranto is much larger. If you zoom in, you’ll see the extension of the city. Taranto today is capital of a province and a very important industrial site with oil refineries and steel works surrounding most of the lagunes.

The Soleto map was first shown to the public at the city’s National Museum, which collects most of the important archaelogical and historic finds of the region.

Taranto also gave its name to one species of spiders found in the region, the tarantula. Folkore said that being bitten by this spider made you go raving mad and dance around wildly, hence the local folk dance tarantella.

Another local tradition connected this wild dancing with some kind of pentecostal trance experience and speaking in tongues, a tradition which was later revived by American shaker cults.