Puglia Regione - Apulia Traditions History Nature Food + Wine

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Local Traditions & History Food & Wine

Apulia, a land located in the centre of the Mediterranean at the southern extremity of Europe, offers splendid views from commanding positions, over fertile valleys towards the sparkling Adriatic, delicious food and wine and a wonderful warm climate.
This region extends into the sea toward the East and is only few hours away from other splendid locations of Southern Italy like Calabria, Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Capri, Maratea, Sicily, Agrigento, Taormina.
Here, Nature imposes itself with a wonderful variety of rich colours: red earth, dark green pine, silvery green olive trees and lush vineyards; sparkling white labyrinths of towns which seem to glisten in the sun; milky white medieval centres with tangles of streets and alleyways, all against a backdrop of the deep blue Mediterranean Sea.

What culture and knowledgeable hand of man have built, refined and shaped to their measure across the millennium, blends with the favourable climate, limpid sea, ever present sunshine, sandy and rocky coastlines, verdant islands, characteristic grottos and other beauties generously profused by nature on this land.

In this land you will find gems of architectural and historical interest: Romanesque, Byzantine and Baroque churches, cathedrals, castles, towers, prehistorical remains and last but not least the Trulli Houses. These are built out of dry stone with thick solid walls and conical roofs, you may sometimes find them gathered around each other or even simply scattered in a picturesque way surrounded by the wonderful countryside.

The kind southern character, the natural openness of the people, a truly typical cuisine, exquisite wines, religions, and popular festivals, historical commemorations, cultural events and endless hospitality facilities create a particularly warm atmosphere.

Local Traditions and Uses

The dialects, traditions and cultures which still today characterize the Apulian people, seem to be reflected in the geo-morphological features of the areas they inhabit. Profound historical-cultural and geographical-environmental diversities distinguish the areas of Capitanata, the Land of Bari, of Salento and the Ionic Land which compose the Apulian territory, and which correspond more or less to the present day provinces of Foggia, Bari, Brindisi, Lecce and Taranto; in fact, the area was long known as "the Apulias", and in some foreign languages it is still designated with the plural.

History and Backgrounds

Apulia has always been an ideal region for human settlement and a zone of commercial and cultural exchange thanks to its geographic position, its gently sloping terrain and particularly pleasant climate.
Seat of populations which reached the highest levels of civilization since earliest times, its prehistory is a cornerstone for studies on the more recent Palaeolithic Mediterranean and European civilizations. Coveted by East and by West, easily accessible by sea or by land, it was inhabited in the historical period by the Illyrian populations of the Japigi, the Dauni, the Peucetii and the Messapi, was the site of numerous Greek colonies, was a Roman territory, an ally of Hannibal against Rome, was included by Augustus in the "Apulia et Calabria" region.
This region on the eastern coast of Southern Italy, suffered barbarian invasions, passed under the domination of Byzantium, obtained a certain independence with the advent of the Longobards and subsequent Frankish domination. Exposed to Saracen raids, it rebelled against Byzantium in the 11th century with the interested help of the Normans, who made it a principality. It was part of the Reign of Sicily, the Reign of Naples, and the Reign of the Two Sicilies prior to Italian unity.

The history and culture of Apulia bear profound marks of the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Franks, Spanish and other populations which left indelible traces of their presence. The contact with such different ethnic groups and cultures has strewn the Apulian territory with archaeological finds, castles, towers, cathedrals, urban and rural buildings and other monuments built in a vast range of styles, reinterpreted by the peoples of Apulia, who created an authentic "stone culture" of their own.