Puglia. Italian Marinas. |
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The elongated region of Puglia (Apulia) forms the south-east part of the peninsula, on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, delimited by Molise to the north-west and by Campania and Basilicata to the west. As far as size and population are concerned, it is the seventh largest region in Italy and its population density is above the national average.
Although Puglia comprises a diversity of
morphological zones with clearly defined characteristics, it retains a precise
uniformity, conferred by the underlying rock and its structural constant, for
the Puglia landscape consists prevalently of horizontal lines and gentle
contours, which rarely take on the appearance of mountains, even at higher
altitudes. These forms owe their existence to the large extensions of limestone
rock in vast horizontal or sub-horizontal strata. As a result, there are few
water courses, and consequently considerable karst phenomena.
From north to south, four geographical regions, Gargano, the Tavoliere, the
Murge and Salento (or Salentino peninsula) blend into each other with little
contrast; to these can be added the so-called Appennino di Capitanata', ie. the
Apennine belt rising with the Monti della Daunia (1,152 m.), blocking the
Tavoliere to the west, and the flat coastal amphitheatre extending in the
immediate hinterland of Taranto.
Gargano is a blunt compact promontory with a rolling landscape and steep or
terraced slopes. Between the Candelaro and Ofanto rivers and the Apennines lies
the Tavoliere, a vast plain on the Adriatic, with a low sandy dune-fringed
coastline. Towards the south-east, lies the Murge tableland, formed of great
limestone blocks which, to the south-west, drop steeply towards the Fossa
Bradanica (in Lucanian territory) though sloping gently to the Adriatic coast.
The Penisola Salentina landscape, south-east of the Soglia Messapica, is very
similar.
The Fortore and the Ofanto at the two ends of the Tavoliere are the principal
rivers, both flowing into the Adriatic Sea. In Gargano, Murge and Salento,
surface and underground karst phenomena are widespread (the Castellana Caves).
The largest lakes are the Lesina and Varano coastal lakes.
The climate is entirely Mediterranean, with mild wet winters and hot dry
ventilated summers. The precipitations, falling mainly in winter, are somewhat
scarce, with a minimum of only 400 mm./year on the inner coastal belt of the
Gulf of Manfredonia. Long ago most of Puglia was probably covered with
Mediterranean scrub, composed of evergreen bushes and trees, but today only
67,000 hectares are wooded, 5% of the entire territory of the region.
One of the most beautiful parts of Puglia is Gargano, the `heel of Italy', the
large promontory which juts into the Adriatic Sea, and culminates in Monte Calvo
(1,055 m.). It is likely that, in Roman times, the whole promontory was a
magnificent forest, though little now remains, the most important traces being
the Aleppo pine woods on the coast, oaks in the valleys and at medium altitudes,
together with beech higher up. An exceptionally interesting characteristic of
Gargano are enormous trees, such as the evergreen oaks at Cappuccini di Vico del
Gargano, the Bosco Quarto Turkey oaks, the Baracconi beeches in the Umbrian
Forest, the yews and the centuries-old San Michele at Monte Sant'Angelo,
together with the two tallest Aleppo pines in Italy (the higher of the two,
known as Zappino dello Scorzone, is over seven hundred years old, and has a
circumference of five and a half metres).
An entirely different environment caused by high salinity is that of the Saline
di Margherita di Savoia, salt pans obtained by transforming the old Salpi lake,
slightly south of Gargano, characterized by vast evaporation pans and
picturesque mounds of salt. The large lakes are the habitat of large numbers of
birds: duck, members of the rail and stork families and waders, and it is
interesting to note the presence of shorebirds such as the oystercatcher, and
gulls, in close proximity to marshland species including the ringed plover,
avocets, herons and the black-winged stilt.
Between Massafra and Mottola lie the Murge Orientali, a wild zone with dense low
woods, survivors of the great forests that once mantled the entire plateau. The
finest part is the Gaglione forest, mostly great oak trees, some hundreds of
years old and covered with ivy. Another of the most singular environments in
Southern Italy is the Bosco di Tricase, the sole Italian habitat of the quercus
aegilops; other interesting species here include the white oak and, in
particular, the quercus coccifera, from whose cochineal insect galls scarlet dye
was once obtained.
The Grotte di Castellana, slightly south-east of Bari, is a famous and much
visited series of caves.
Discovered in 1938, they extend prevalently on the level for nearly 2,000 m.,
and consist of five large and immensely high caverns, linked by tunnels and
corridors, all with splendid stalagmites and stalactites.
Characteristic of Puglia
(with the exception of the Salentino peninsula) is the concentration of numerous
small farmers in large urban centres (with tens of thousands of inhabitants),
forming `farming towns' (though now partially converted to other economic
sectors), frequently at a distance from the land itself. This gives the Pugliese
countryside an appearance that seems to contradict the somewhat high average
density of population statistics; consequently, population scatter is at a
minimum.
The Puglia dialect, which belongs to the South Italy family of dialects, is
divided into two sub-classes, that spoken in the north, with an affinity to the
dialects of Molise and Abruzzo, and that of the south (or Salentine), typical of
the area south of Taranto and Brindisi, which resembles the Calabrian-Sicilian
matrix. Isolated instances are those of Albanian, spoken only in Capitanata and
a few parts of the Province of Taranto, and Greek in certain centres south of
Leone.
Agriculture is still the most important sector, both in terms of employment and
production. In the course of agricultural development, which began at the
beginning of last century, two basic problems have had to be overcome. The first
of these, now successfully solved, was that of the latifundia, vast estates in
the hands of the great landowners, whose land was redistributed to the farmers
by the Riforma Fondiaria Act (1951); the second problem-the lack of water in
these areas, has led the State and local authorities to build large-scale
irrigation systems, the first being the Pugliese Aqueduct (1906-1939), wichch
has proved to be still inadequate. In spite of this, horticulture is common in
Puglia, including the production of tomatoes, lettuces, artichokes and fennel,
as well as the traditional olives, and table and wine grapes. There are also
high crops of carrots, aubergines, peppers, cabbage, wheat, corn, almonds and
cherries. The only livestock of any importance is sheep, but Puglia has the
fourth highest fishing catch in the country.
Underground resources include several natural gas deposits (Capitanata) and
bauxite (Trani, Poggiardo); there is a fair production of electricity, almost
exclusively by thermal generation.
In the south of the region, the industrial sector is highly developed, with two
vast industrial complexes, the Taranto steel works and chemical plant at
Brindisi, both planned as the basis for the growth of small and medium-sized
allied companies. In reality, this has been only partly successful, and is
limited to the Brindisi-Taranto-Bari industrial triangle. The sole branch of
industry found in most areas is food, linked to the plentiful agricultural
output (especially pasta and oil manufacture); other industries include
papermaking (Foggia), engineering (Taranto, Brindisi, Bari), construction
materials (Lecce, Bisceglie, Barletta).
The service sector suffers from the endemic malaises typical of the sector in
the South of Italy: inefficiency, surplus of small businesses, flocks of
intermediaries, especially in marketing the prosperous agricultural produce, a
state of affairs this last which affects the earning power of the farmers. Of
the remaining service industries, tourism particularly to beach resorts is
steadily becoming important.
The conformation of the territory, unlike that of the other regions, is a
serious obstacle to communications. The main highway is the last stretch of the
Adriatic autostrada, which passes S. Severo, Foggia, Bari and Taranto; railway
connections are based principally on the Milan-Bologna-Bari-Lecce line. Port
facilities exist at Taranto (mercantile), as well as Brindisi and Bari, which
have important links with Yugoslavia and Greece. The two domestic airports:
Bari-Palese and Brindisi-Casale.
The influx of tourists in Puglia is linked to the
numbers of beach resorts along the Adriatic and Ionican coasts. Most of the
beaches are wide and sandy, giving way to attractive rocky coves, some with
magnificent sea caves, in a few parts of Gargano and the Salentino peninsula.
Taking the Gargano promontory as a starting point, the most important centres
are Rodi Garganico, Peschici, Vieste, the elegant Pugnochiuso and Baia delle
Zagare, where numerous sea crags give added beauty to the scenery.
Farther south lie Bisceglie, Polignano a Mare, Torre Canne, Marina di Ostuni,
Roca Vecchia, Castro Marina and Leuca, at the tip of Salento. Along the Ionican
coastline, Gallipoli is followed by S. Mari al Bagno, Porto Cesareo, Marina di
Pulsano, Riva dei Tessali and Marina di Ginosa. Unforgettable is the rocky
little Tremiti archipelago, off the Gargano coast, where the beauties of Nature
still lie intact.
Many of the inland villages possess something of artistic or scenic interest,
often with important historical remains. The visitor would do well to see the
villages of Monte S. Angelo, standing in a panoramic position on the Gargano
hills, Lucera in Capitanata, with the remains of a Roman amphitheatre, Troia,
which has a Romanesque-Pugliese cathedral (11th-13th century), with a
magnificent rose window.
In the Murges area, lie Canosa, with a 11th century cathedral and the beautiful
isolated octagonal Castel del Monte, built by Frederick II, on a splendid
panoramic site, Ruvo di Puglia, with one of the most important Romanesque-Pugliese
cathedrals (13th century); Alberobello, with its extraordinary trulli; Gioia del
Colle, which has a great castle (11th-13th century); Altamura, with a
Romanesque-Gothic cathedral (13th-15th century), Grottaglie, a pottery craft
centre; Manduria (megalithic walls and necropolis).
Some of the coastal towns also attract large numbers of tourists. Barletta,
famous for the Disfida in 1503, with a giant bronze statue of the Colosso (4th
century); Trani, with a fine Romanesque cathedral (12th century); Monopoli,
dominated by its 16th century castle, with nearby ruins of the pre-Roman city of
Egnazia; Otranto, with its characteristic historical centre and beautiful
cathedral (11th-12th century). In the immediate Bari hinterland lies Bitonto,
whose 13th century cathedral is probably the finest example of Romanesque-Pugliese
architecture.