Puglia

Puglia is the easternmost Italian region, with Bari as the capital. In addition to the metropolitan city, other administrative bodies are the provinces of Foggia, Barletta-Andria-Trani, Taranto, Brindisi and Lecce. The Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea cover about 865 kilometers of coasts, with the Salento peninsula constituting the so-called heel of Italy. More than half of the territory is flat and only 2% is mountainous, while the remaining conformation is hilly; a morphology that makes the Apulian one the least mountainous region of the Belpaese. The mountains are those of the Gargano promontory and the Daunia Mountains. But it is the plains of the Tavoliere delle Puglie, the Tavoliere di Lecce and the Terra di Bari that determine the landscape. There are also the hills of the Murge subregion and those of the Salento Serre. In the Itria valley, full of trulli (the historic center of Alberobello is entirely composed of these dry stone buildings), there are valleys and ripples; the bank of the ravines, a sub-hilly system characterized by deep crevasses dug into the limestone by the waters, extends along the Ionic arch of Taranto.

The Apulian Unesco heritage are the trulli, the conical stone houses with the roof of limestone slabs, and Castel del Monte, the 13th century fortress of Frederick II of Swabia on the Murge plateau.

The national natural parks are those of the Gargano and Alta Murgia, the marine protected areas of Torre Guaceto, the Tremiti Islands and Porto Cesareo. There are also regional parks and reserves, despite the fact that the regional wooded area is quite small. From an archaeological point of view, sites of interest are the Altamura dinosaur quarry, with many dinosaur footprints, and the Altamura Man, the skeleton of Neanderthal Man found in the area.

The most beautiful beaches are located at the base of the Gargano promontory, from Rodi Garganico to Mattinata, passing through Vieste, and to the nearby archipelago of the Tremiti islands; the long sandy coasts of the western side of the Salento peninsula are bathed by the Ionian Sea; between the shores of the east side of Salento, along the coast of the Adriatic Sea, there is the Baia dei Turchi. Polignano a Mare and Capitolo are also on the Adriatic coast.

The popular dance called pizzica or taranta is part of the folklore of Salento and in the Taranto area, once a healing ritual for women who were believed to have been bitten by the tarantula. On the other hand, the traditional dances, with their musical melody, called tarantella, originate from the entire region.

The olive groves distinguish the landscape and agriculture thanks to the production of fine olive oils, such as the extra virgin Terre Tarentine, Terra di Bari and Terra d'Otranto, and olives such as La Bella della Daunia di Cerignola.

In the Gargano, the subregion that gives shape to the so-called spur of Italy, citrus groves stand out with oranges and lemons, while the clementines of the Gulf of Taranto are cultivated in the Land of the Ionian Gravines.

The wine production is very abundant, with wines such as Castel del Monte, Primitivo di Manduria, Gioia del Colle, Aleatico di Puglia, Salice Salentino and many others. The vines characterize the landscapes of Bari, Tarantino, Valle d'Itria, Brindisino, Foggiano and Salento.

The most important permanent museum exhibitions are found in the National Archaeological Museum of Manfredonia, inside the Swabian-Angevin-Aragonese castle, in the Jatta museum in Ruvo di Puglia, with the collection in Palazzo Jatta, in the MarTA, the museum of Prehistory and Magna Graecia with the Ori of Taranto in the former convent of San Pasquale Baylon, the Museum of Preclassical Civilizations of Southern Murgia in Ostuni, the Archaeological Civic Museum of Canosa di Puglia, the National Gallery of Puglia "Girolamo and Rosaria DeVanna", with the paintings in Sylos-Calò palace in Bitonto.

The railway network is not only that of the State Railways, but also of the four private railway companies (Ferrovie del Nord Barese, Sud Est, Gargano, Appulo Lucane). The most important ports are those, both commercial and tourist, of Bari and Brindisi, the tourist port of Rodi Garganico and that of Polignano a Mare, the Mola di Bari, the port of Otranto. In addition to maritime connections with the Tremiti islands, from Puglia you can arrive by sea in Croatia at the port of Dubrovnik, in Albania at the port of Durres and in Greece at the ports of Corfu, Igoumenitsa, Patras and Kefalonia. The airports are the international airport of Bari "Karol Wojtyła", the international airport of Salento and the airport of Foggia "Gino Lisa".