Place · sea

Gulf of Taranto

Also known as Gulf of Tarentum

The Gulf of Taranto is a gulf of the Ionian Sea in southern Italy, between the heel and toe of the peninsula. In the 8th and 7th centuries BCE Greek colonists founded cities on its shores, including Taras (Taranto), Metapontum, Sybaris and Croton, which formed part of Magna Graecia. Taras had the best harbour on the gulf.

Gulf of Taranto
Image: Yellow.Cat from Roma, Italy · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 state histories

SybarisTaras

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Gulf of Taranto. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/gulf-of-taranto
MLA
“Gulf of Taranto.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/gulf-of-taranto. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Gulf of Taranto.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/gulf-of-taranto.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Gulf of Taranto’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/gulf-of-taranto (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻