Normans and Hohenstaufen. At the height of its splendour, the city was a point of departure for naval expeditions during the Crusades. Later it was a fief under Angevine and Aragonese feudal lords. In 1484 the city came under Venetian control and saw an economic upswing as a seaport on the Adriatic Sea, a base between Bari and Brindisi as well as through trading its own agricultural goods. It was frequently attacked by Muslim pirates in the following decades. These continuous threats forced Monopoli to build strong fortifications which allowed them in 1529 to resist the Armada of Charles V for three months, forcing the Spaniards to abandon the siege. However, the following year saw Monopoli pass under Spanish rule while still remaining a free city. It became part of the newly unified state Kingdom of Italy in 1860. The city, lying in the south of Italy or Mezzogiorno, enjoyed a certain economic development during the 1960s grace to the opening of a Tognana (an important Italian ceramic manufacturer) industrial plant. The closure of the plant at the end of the 1990s was a major blow to the city's economy. Monopoli's economic recovery in the last year has been due mainly to new industries, the most important being MerMec, a manufacturer of railway material, along with the development of tourism, especially in the countryside and on the coast. Geography Overview Located in the south-eastern corner of its province, near the borders with the one of Brindisi, and by the Adriatic Coast, Monopoli borders with the municipalities of Alberobello, Castellana Grotte, Fasano (BR) and Polignano a Mare. The town is 15 km from Fasano, 33 from Martina Franca, 44 from Bari, 64 from Taranto and 75 from Brindisi. Frazioni The territory outside the walled city counts 99 hamlets (frazioni) and localities named contrade. Some of them, which merged with the urbanized area of the town, were suppressed and became outer wards. The others are mostly rural localities, mainly composed by some scattered farmhouses. The 99 contrade are: Aione, Antonelli, Aratico, Arenazza, Assunta, Balice, Barcato, Bellocchio, Belvedere, Cacaveccia, Capitolo, Cardillo, Caramanna, Carluccio, Carrassa, Casale, Cavallerizza, Cervarulo, Chianchizza, Chiesa dei Morti, Ciminiera, Ciporelli, Conchia, Corvino, Cozzana, Cristo Cozzana, Cristo delle Zolle, Cristo Re, Due Torri, Gorgofreddo, Gravina, Grotta dell'Acqua, Guadiano, Guidano, Impalata, Laghezza, Lama di Macina, Lamalunga, Lamammolilla, Lamantia, Lamarossa, Lamascrasciola, Losciale, Macchia di Casa, Macchia di Monte, Mazzone, Monte Scopa, Moredifame, Mozzo,