The old city of Taranto occupies a small peninsula — originally an island — connected to the modern city by the Ponte Girevole and to the mainland in the other direction by the Ponte di Porta Napoli. This is the original site of the Greek colony of Taras, and later of the Roman, Byzantine, Norman, and Aragonese city. The streets are narrow and the buildings often in varying states of repair, but the atmosphere is genuine: women drying washing, old men on chairs outside doorways, the smell of fish from the market near the port.
Walking the Città Vecchia is the essential Taranto experience. The main axis runs from Piazza Castello in the south (with the Aragonese castle and the Temple of Poseidon columns) up through the warren of alleys to the cathedral. The Lungomare (seafront promenade) on both sides of the peninsula gives good views of the two seas and the bridge. The old town is undergoing gradual restoration — some streets have been tidied up, others remain raw — but the authentic character has not been lost.