The name derives from Joha, reduction of the term Joannakis indicating the name of the Byzantine family, who lived in this area in the medieval period. It is situated in an area inhabited since the Neolithic period, the center of the Murge. Date back to 1071 the first written evidence the presence of the village, developed around a Byzantine castle.
Designed by Roberto Siniscalco, brother of the more famous Robert Guiscard, the fortress was enlarged during the reigns of Roger II, Frederick II, by the Anjou and the Aragons. It currently houses the National Archaeological Museum.
Among the religious monuments not to miss: the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore (XI century), the Church of Saint Lucia (XVI century), the Church of the Immaculate Conception, the Church of the Sacred Heart, the Church of San Vito Martire, the Church of St. Rocco and the Church of San Francesco.