BARLETTA , nearly 60km round the coast from Manfredonia, is an indifferent and rather shabby town really, but meriting some attention if you happen to be passing on the second weekend in September, when it's the venue of one of Puglia's largest pageants, the Disfida ("the Challenge"). The event re-enacts an occasion in 1503 when thirteen Italian knights challenged thirteen French knights to a duel for control of the besieged town. They had been drinking t... [More]