Puglia forms the easternmost part of the peninsula and has a long coastline, facing the Ionian and the Adriatic Seas. Puglia (Apulia in English) 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.
Bari is the regional capital. Brindisi, Foggia, Lecce and Taranto are the capitals of the respective provinces.
The region is rich in archaeological discoveries, and some of its cities were shining sapphires in the crown of Magna Graecia (Greater Greece). The Ionian and Adriatic Seas wash up on its shores, which have seen the arrival of diverse civilizations and of the armies seeking to conquer this access route to Rome. The Goths, Germanic hordes, Byzantines, Spanish, and French sought to possess it. Saracen pirates and Turks came to see what riches they might find.
Puglia offers the beauty of marine grottoes and caverns, as well as turquoise seas and sandy beaches. Forests of wind-twisted pines, huge old carob trees, junipers, sage, and rosemary grow near the sea; orchards, vineyards, grain fields, and vegetable gardens grow inland. Flocks of sheep and goats dot the landscape.
The most luxurious and certainly the most comfortable way to visit this rugged district of Italy is to fly from Rome to either Bari or Brindisi in about an hour. |
