A few kilometers from Fasano is Egnatia, one of the most important archaeological areas in Puglia. It is an ancient urban settlement, originally the center of the Messapic civilization (a Balkan population present in Apulia since the 9th century B.C.), which, however, had its greatest phase of development in Roman times. The city port, in fact, with the Romans became a key junction for trade between the Adriatic, Aegean and Black Seas, so much so that the toponym “Egnatia” would derive precisely from the name of this maritime route, known precisely as “Via Ignazia.” However, land connections also contributed to the development of the area. To be precise, the “Via Traiana,” a Roman road connecting Brindisi and Benevento and an excellent alternative to the busier Appian Way. In short, Egnatia was for centuries a strategic commercial port of call between West and East, later falling into disgrace after the end of the Roman Empire. The archaeological history of the site begins, however, in the 19th century: first Napoleonic troops during the French Decade of the Kingdom of Naples (1806-1815) and later the local population began looting vases, bronzes, jewelry and a host of other ceramic artifacts found in the necropolis. Only in the early 1900s did the area finally pass into full state control. Even today, more than a century later, research continues, taking advantage of the presence of the nearby museum to inventory the finds as they come to light. The museum is named after Giuseppe Andreassi, superintendent for the archaeological heritage of Apulia between 1990 and 2009 and director of the archaeological area of Egnatia from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. More information on the history, visiting arrangements and access hours to the park and museum can be found at: www.egnazia.eu