Taranto is a coastal city in , Southern .
Tarantois a coastal city inApulia,Southern Italy. It is the capital of theProvince of Tarantoand is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. The third-largest continental city ofSouthern Italy, Taranto is an important commercial and military port. It has well-developed steel and iron foundries, oil refineries, chemical works, some shipyards for building warships, and food-processing factories. Taranto is known as "The Spartan City" because it was the only colony ever founded by Sparta, in 706 BC.