Editing Taranto (section)

==Overview==
[[File:Tarantoharb1921.jpg|thumb|left|Taranto naval base for the Italian Regia Marina's First Squadron, 1930s]]

Taranto's pre-history dates back to 706 BC<ref name="travelgrove1">{{cite web |url=http://www.travelgrove.com/travel-guides/Italy/Taranto-History-c1021994.html |title=Taranto History, Italy |publisher=Travelgrove.com |access-date=17 January 2012 |archive-date=19 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319094513/http://www.travelgrove.com/travel-guides/Italy/Taranto-History-c1021994.html |url-status=live }}</ref> when it was founded as a [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] colony, established by the [[Sparta]]ns. The ancient city was situated on a [[peninsula]]; the modern city has been built over the ancient Greek city of which only a few ruins remain, including part of the city wall, two temple columns dating to the 6th century BC, and tombs.<ref name="taranto2004">{{cite web |url=http://www.taranto.eu/ |title=Taranto Tourism and History |publisher=Taranto.eu |date=1 January 2004 |access-date=17 January 2012 |archive-date=27 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327214731/http://www.taranto.eu/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Greeks|Greek]] colonists from [[Sparta]] called the city '''Taras''' ({{lang|grc|Τάρᾱς}}, <small>[[Genitive case|gen.]]</small> {{lang|grc|Τάραντος}} {{Transliteration|grc|Tárantos}}) after the mythical hero [[Taras (mythology)|Taras]], while the [[Rome|Romans]], who connected the city to Rome with an extension of the [[Appian Way]], called it '''Tarentum'''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Strabo, Geography, BOOK VI., CHAPTER III., section 2 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+6.3.2 |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>

The islets of ''[[Cheradi Islands|S. Pietro]]'' and ''[[San Paolo Island|S. Paolo]]'' (St. Peter and St. Paul), collectively known as [[Cheradi Islands]], protect the bay, called ''Mar Grande'' (''Big Sea''), where the commercial port is located.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} Taranto is known for the large population of [[dolphin]]s and other [[cetacea]]ns living near these islands. Another bay, called ''Mar Piccolo'' (''Little Sea''), is formed by the peninsula of the old city and has flourishing [[fishing]].{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

At the end of the 19th century, a channel was excavated to allow naval ships to enter the ''Mar Piccolo'' harbour, and the ancient Greek city become an island connected to the mainland by bridges. The islets and the coast are strongly fortified and ''Mar Piccolo'' is a naval port with strategic importance.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} Because of the presence of these two bays, Taranto is also called "the city of the two seas".{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}[[File:Map of comune of Taranto (province of Taranto, region Apulia, Italy).svg|thumb|left|200px|The ''comune'' of Taranto (red) within its province.]]
The natural harbor at Taranto made it a logical home port for the Italian naval fleet before and during the [[First World War]]. During World War II, Taranto became famous for a November 1940 British air attack on the [[Regia Marina]] naval base stationed here, which today is called the [[Battle of Taranto]].{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

The city's name is the origin of the common name "[[tarantula]]", originating from the terms [[tarantella]], [[tarantism]] and [[tarantula]] — although no spider species of the family [[Theraphosidae]] inhabit the area.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, residents of Taranto who believed they had been bitten by the large local [[Wolf Spider]], ''[[Lycosa tarentula]]'', would claim to fall ill with [[tarantism]], a disease marked by melancholy and, in its most extreme form, bouts of aggressive, manic behavior. One cure was believed to be performing a long vigorous dance like a [[jig]], in order to sweat the venom out of their pores — even though the wolf spider's venom is not fatal to humans. The frenetic dance is believed to be an early origin of the [[Tarantella]] dance.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weiss |first1=Sarah |title=Ritual Soundings: Women Performers & World Religious |date=2019 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |location=Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield |isbn=978-0-252-05113-5 |pages=116–117 |url=https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/104883223/Sarah_Weiss_Ritual_Soundings_Women_Performers_and_World_Religions-libre.pdf?1691598510=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DRitual_Soundings_WomenPerformers_and_Wor.pdf&Expires=1740202918&Signature=dmd3b6hbpQ09z5cBdyQvC4-gU1-Ka-mLcVQpQe3K5jBNarOKJD-KIx75GNh06tvsAnWKf6YTA99Y0T04ao6rUzrtcfnQQqHBienW7Ep4~-Mu~PVonCliKdxwPFTMT1UkS4gaOwuZuGKKzwrze~PQTPvDXwra3XK7XMQ1H8dtL~5n1bRjsJKST2lAE~aPbsmKpX~kmpbMaP2bjfO6ZVIT5tQEr9Y8jqbYhgrO9S3hLsqbnw2KfpMga4NgRM6nNpotsdezaaNDwYFlUXBfaMo2J6qXgHjI51eW7gIIy8eTcczI~Ep5vibxSU6jtbz91dJYw3YhBQj2WOGWxwadjXBUig__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA |access-date=22 February 2025}}</ref>

In [[geology]], Taranto gives its name to the [[Late Pleistocene|Tarantian]] Age of the [[Pleistocene]] Epoch.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}