Janus of the two seas: the coastal architecture of the city of Taranto

Taranto, the “city of the Two Seas,” embodies a profound urban and territorial duality shaped by its position between the Mar Grande and the Mar Piccolo. This dichotomy, interpreted through the perspectives of Alessandro Leogrande and Kevin Lynch, reveals a constant tension between openness and closure that defines the city’s evolution. The Mar Grande, with its Vittorio Emanuele III waterfront, represents Taranto’s open and monumental dimension: an urban front that, thanks to the Umbertine orthogonal layout, fosters connectivity, sociability, and civic identity. Conversely, the Mar Piccolo illustrates the transformations brought by post-war industrialization. The Italsider steel plant (now ArcelorMittal) and the Tamburi district profoundly reshaped the coastal landscape, producing fragmentation, decay, and marginalization. Within this framework, the dualism between the two seas takes on a symbolic meaning akin to the Roman god Janus, whose two faces—Patulcius (open) and Clusivius (closed)—mirror the opposing poles of Taranto’s identity. While the Mar Grande continues to embody openness and exchange, the Mar Piccolo has become a symbol of exclusion and decline. Taranto’s future challenge lies in overcoming this historical fracture and redefining its relationship with the sea, integrating both identities into a more balanced, sustainable, and self-aware urban vision.