GRAVINA, a city of Italy, in the province of Bari, is situated on a hill to the left of the river Gravina, 7 miles from Altamura, and 37 S.W. of Bari. It is surrounded by tower-flanked walls, and has a cathedral, and a castle which belongs to the Orsini family, of which the eldest branch still keeps the title of duke of Gravina. A great cattle fair is held in the town on April 20; a fine breed of horses is raised in the neighbourhood; nitre is collected from the tufa rock of the district; and cheese, macaroni, and earthenware are manufactured. Population in 1871, 14,194.

GRAVINA, Giovanni Vincenzo (1664-1718), an Italian litterateur and jurisconsult, was born at Roggiano, a small town near Cosenza in Calabria, January 20, 1664. He was descended from a distinguished family, and under the direction of his maternal uncle, Gregorio Caloprese, who possessed some reputation as a poet and philosopher, received a learned education, after which he studied at Naples civil and canon law. In 1689 he came to Rome, where in 1695 he united with several others of literary tastes in forming the Academy of Arcadians. A schism occurred in the academy in 1711, and Gravina and his followers founded in opposition to it the Academy of Quirina. From Innocent XΠ. Gravina received the offer of various ecclesiastical honours, but declined them from a disinclination to enter the clerical profession. In 1699 he was appointed to the chair of civil law in the college of La Sapienza, and in 1703 he was transferred to the chair of canon law. He died at Rome January 6, 1718. He was the adoptive father of Metastasio....