Why go
Knowing which part of the centre you are in changes how you explore it. The old town gathers major religious buildings and the castle within winding streets; the Murat quarter offers straight shopping streets and a different scale. Linking them gives a first visit a clear shape.
The full story
Bari Vecchia occupies the small peninsula north of the newer centre, between harbour areas. Its close street pattern contains the Basilica di San Nicola, Bari Cathedral and Castello Normanno-Svevo. These are useful anchors when the lanes make orientation less immediate. South of the old town, the Murat quarter replaces that irregular pattern with a rectangular grid. Via Sparano and Via Argiro are the main shopping streets named in this part of the city. The change in layout reflects a deliberate expansion beyond the older settlement rather than a gradual continuation of its lanes. Let that contrast shape an initial exploration: give the old town time for its monuments, then cross into the newer streets to understand Bari as a working regional centre. The seafront provides another perspective on the relationship between the city and its Adriatic setting.