Most Neapolitan-type playing cards were born – despite their name – in Bari.
Guglielmo Murari decided to abandon the Austrian-ruled Venice and move to Bari to open a playing card factory.
The workshop born in Via Re David – now hosting a school – was the result of the big dream of its founder: to replace hand-made cards with an industrially-made deck capable of unifying all the regional versions present nationwide.
Murari succeeded in his challenge thanks indeed to matrices allowing an innovative printing method. Although the Murari card factory shut down in 1930, his machinery, as well as an abundance of card samples, are exhibited at the city museum.
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