BED-BREAKFASTPUGLIA - PLACES TO VISIT IN APULIA
Territory:
This region forms the easternmost part of the peninsula and has a long coastline,
facing the Ionian and the Adriatic Seas. Apulia is essentially a flatland
with wide arid expanses, terraces and table-lands poor in water. The Murgia
highland and the coast present impressive karst formations (grottoes and
“Doline” hollows). The coasts are essentially high and, in the
Gargano district, plunge steep into the sea; in other areas, they are sandy
or rocky, but usually flat.
Cities:
Bari is the regional capital. Brindisi, Foggia, Lecce and Taranto are the
capitals of the respective provinces.
Art:
The megalithic monuments (Dolmens and Menhirs) are numerous and interesting.
Canne della Battaglia and Ignazia are two great archaeologic complexes.
The Roman remains are noteworthy throughout the region. The Romanesque art
produced magnificent architectural works, such as the cathedrals of Bari,
Trani, Barletta. Molfetta, Bitonto, Ruvo di Puglia. Interesting and majestic
castles in the thirteenth-century Byzantine-Arab style can be found in Bari,
Gioia del Colle, Lucera and Castel del Monte. The Baroque attained great
splendor and left some impressive examples, especially in Lecce.
Museums:
In Bari, tourists can visit the Palace of the University, which includes
the important Archaeologic Museum with relics of the Neolithic and Bronze
Age, funeral urns, ceramics and bronze from the necropolis. Lecce has the
Provincial Museum, with sculptures and Roman architectural remains, and
the Museum of the Arts of the Folk Traditions of Salento. Collections of
coins, vases and bronzes are preserved in the Provincial Archaeologic Museum
of Brindisi. The National Museum of Taranto is the most important for the
history of Magna Graecia. In Foggia: the Civic Museum, with the prehistoric
section and an interesting paleochristian epigraph, and the Pinacoteca,
which houses works of nineteenth and twentieth-century local masters.
To be visited:
The Gargano area and the coastline from Brindisi to Santa Maria di Leuca;
Alberobello with its typical “trulli” houses.
from: http://www.italiantourism.com
Trains and buses are not very effective in Apulia, so renting a car or cycling
is highly recommended. Foggia is the logical entry point for the region.
Drive to Lucera, dominated by Frederick's massive Fortezza Angioina, a pentagonal
castle with 24 defense towers studding its one-half mile of perimeter walls.
The simple Gothic cathedral is one of the few intact examples of Angevin
architecture in Italy, and the amphitheater, dating from the 1st century
BC, is among the oldest Roman ones in existence. Eighteen miles away is
Troia, where the cathedral is a fine example of Apulian style, combining
classic romanesque architecture with detailed Oriental carvings.
Gargano
Heading east, stop in Siponto to see the 11th-century church of Santa Maria,
situated in a quiet pine grove surrounded by Roman ruins. Continue east,
past Manfredonia, embarkation point for the Crusaders, and on to Monte Sant'Angelo,
one of Europe's oldest and most revered Christian shrines. From here begins
one of those legendary Italian roads, the coastal route around the Gargano
promontory. As you drive up to heights of 3000 feet, to your left will be
the Foresta Umbra (Shady Forest), a 62,000-acre treasure trove of ancient
pine, oak, beech, chestnuts and 2,000 other species of plant, shrub and
tree. The forest is inhabited by hundreds of animal species, many of whom
came from the Balkans and were stranded here when Yugoslavia broke away
from the Italian heel. To your left will be one of the most pristine stretches
of the Adriatic Sea, lined with crystal-clear waters, gleaming white beaches,
mysterious grottos and dozens of trabucchi, rustic fishermen's taverns serving
freshly-caught fish. If you're here in summer, visit the Gargano on weekdays
to avoid the crowds; use the towns of Rodi Garganico, Peschici or Mattinata
as your base for the same reason. On the road from Peschici to San Menaio,
you'll have trouble missing Lo Zappino dello Scorzone, Italy's tallest Aleppo
pine. Seven hundred years old, it measures sixteen feet around at the base.
Castel del Monte
Heading south along the coast you'll reach Barletta, which has a romanesque
cathedral that is greatly overshadowed by the town's most famous monument,
a 16-foot tall Colossus statue cast in Constantinople in the 4th century.
Pilfered by the Venetians (along with the four bronze horses that now
top St. Mark's Basilica), this statue was shipwrecked and washed ashore
here in the 14th century. Turning inland, visit Apulia's leading monument,
the 13th-century Castel del Monte. Frederick II's favorite hunting lodge,
it is an octagonal stone castle with eight towers and eight trapezoidal
rooms on each floor. Pale and purely Gothic, it dominates an entire valley
outside of Andria (open Monday-Saturday 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. from April to
September and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. the rest of the year).
Trani
Back on the coast road, stop in Trani, which boasts a lovely medieval
quarter and a picturesque fishing port. The town cathedral is literally
perched at the edge of the water; best viewed at sunset, the off-white
building actually contains three churches layered atop each other. A few
miles away is Molfetta, where you should stop to see the old cathedral,
distinguished from the new one by the former's three domes and two bell
towers. To see the culmination of Apulian romanesque architecture, take
a short inland detour to visit Bitonto's cathedral. Next, head inland
toward Altamura, whose cathedral was rebuilt by Frederick II after the
Saracens sacked the town. Just across the valley is Gravina in Puglia,
an eery place where carved skeletons seem to lurk on every corner and
one of the two grotto churches, S. Michele, hosts a cemetery filled with
the neatly-stacked bones of Saracen victims.
Travel back toward the coast now, stopping in Castellana Grotte to see
the caverns, thought to be the deepest in Europe. Then head south into
Apulia's most magical region, the land of the trulli (pictured at left),
gnome-like cylindrical huts made with no mortar and topped with conical
gray stone roofs resembling beehives. Alberobello is the capital of trullo
territory; here, street after street is lined with the whitewashed buildings,
many of which have been converted into shops or restaurants. But the trullo
is an ancient, mystical dwelling, and nowhere is it more satisfying to
see than alongside the narrow local roads, surrounded by ancient olive
trees straining up from the deep terra-cotta colored earth. Many of these
rural trulli date from the 1600s and have been painted pastel colors;
indecipherable hex symbols stand out clearly against the gray stone roofs.
A few miles farther south, the town of Locorotondo is laid out in concentric
circles on its hillside overlooking a valley blanketed with vineyards.
Still farther on is the local jewel, Martina Franca, a baroque town whose
Palazzo Ducale is the only building in southern Italy attributed to the
great Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The church of San Martino is also a jewel.
More delightfully picturesque whitewashed hill towns abound, notably Cisternino
and Ostuni, a shimmering mirage set on three hilltops. Its white walls,
wrought-iron balconies and turquoise shutters will delight the eye of
anyone who loves Greece.
Like so many of Apulia's large cities, Brindisi is best left to its inhabitants
and the sailors and Greece-bound travelers who swarm around its port,
where a marble column marks the end of the ancient Appian Way. Far, far
more worthwhile is to travel on to Lecce, the pink city, the Florence
of the Baroque, the gleaming gem of Apulia. Few travelers venture this
far, and even fewer go on to Otranto, Italy's easternmost city. If you
do, you will be rewarded with a 15th-century Aragonese castle and a cathedral
whose entire floor is covered by an unforgettable 12th-century Tree of
Life mosaic.
Gallipoli
Heading south from here, the coastal road is lined with massive, almost
Moorish villas, adorable flocks of grazing sheep and the deep turquoise
waters of the Adriatic. Travel around the southeastern tip of Italy at
Santa Maria di Leuca and then northward to Gallipoli, a medieval town
reached by crossing an ancient bridge. Here, among the timeworn walls,
the picturesque fishing port, the Angevin castle and the baroque cathedral,
you will hear very few tourists speaking English.
The tour of Apulia is completed by driving north along the coast, past
some of Italy's most pristine beaches, to Taranto, whose Archeological
Museum is second only to that of Naples. Here too you will find an ancient
bridge, Roman ruins, an Aragonese castle, a baroque cathedral with a Byzantine
cupola, a Doric column from the Greek temple of Poseidon: calling cards
left by the legions of conquerors who have marched through Apulia over
the last two millennia.
from: http://www.initaly.com
MAPS:
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