Open Port Project
New name on the vibrant Italian cruise scene, Taranto Cruise Port, a member of Global Ports Holding, manages the cruise terminal of S. Cataldo pier as of April 2021, inaugurating the first year of activity with a surprising cruise traffic, which includes the calls of MSC Seaside, hosted by the Apulian port of Taranto every Wednesday from May to November for partial turnaround operations.
This fervent growth of the port sector and the addition of new important stakeholders, such as Taranto Cruise Port, have highlighted how the local maritime context is changing and how the port is not just a physical infrastructure, a place of exchange, transit, arrivals and departures, but also and above all the mirror of a culture, the fruit of a society which, in Taranto, is strongly linked to the sea.
From the conscious need to open the port to the city and encourage the participation of citizens in the creation of a new way of enjoying the port culture, “Open Port – Exhibition center of the Port of Taranto”, is born: the new project of the Port Network Authority of the Ionian Sea which aims to bring this magical context to the many who, even today, have not had the opportunity to approach the port reality closely.
Anticipated by the creation of a virtual community on social media, thanks to the precious collaboration with a team of professionals, Open Port aims at the construction of a museum, first virtual then physical in the multipurpose center, where it will be possible to have different and numerous, multidisciplinary and multi-target experiences, cultural, emotional, playful and creative, and where the local community and the economic players of Taranto must be able to find expression and tell their story, their present and their aspirations.
Above all, it will be the result of a shared experience, an open lab of new ideas and new routes born from the meeting of the various local stakeholders with Italian and foreign citizens, visitors and tourists, with a view to transnational cultural exchange.
“We are proud to be part of such a lively port context and exalted by this initiative. It’s a new, interactive and dynamic way to experience and discover Taranto, exploring its past to build its future through the relationship with the sea and with everything that comes from the sea, such as cruises and cruise passengers”, Antonio Di Monte, General Manager of Taranto Cruise Port, said.
