The Giardini Peripato are public gardens at the eastern edge of the old city, overlooking the Mar Piccolo. The name comes from the Peripatetic school of philosophy — according to tradition, Archytas of Tarentum, the 4th-century BC mathematician and philosopher who was a friend of Plato, used to walk and teach in the gardens that occupied this part of the ancient city.
Today they are a pleasant open space with views across the inner sea. The gardens are most attractive in the early evening when the light on the water is soft and locals come to walk and sit. The Mar Piccolo visible from here is an ecologically unusual body of water — almost completely enclosed and fed partly by freshwater springs on its floor, it has been used for mussel cultivation for centuries. Taranto's famous cozze tarantine (local mussels) come from these waters.