Taranto, Italy

A coastal city in southern Italy’s Puglia region, Taranto sits between the Mar Grande (“Big Sea”) and Mar Piccolo (“Little Sea”) bodies of water. Its heritage dates to the Spartans, who founded it in the eighth century BC. Taranto is often called the capital of the ancient Magna Grecia, a group of ancient Greek cities along the coast of southern Italy. Taranto’s Old Town is perhaps the area’s best-kept secret, complete with Greek ruins and a labyrinth of narrow streets, home to the 15th-century Aragonesa Castle, the Spartan Museum of Taranto, and the San Cataldo Basilica, the oldest Apulian cathedral, built by the Byzantines in the second half of the tenth century. The National Archaeological Museum of Taranto-Marta is home to a collection of artifacts that date from prehistory to the Middle Ages.