2. WE COME FROM FOGGIA

3. Our place in Europe The region of Puglia (Apulia) forms the southeast part of the peninsula, on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. It’s the “heel of Italy”.

4. Our place in Italy This is the province of Foggia. The Gargano promontory,its northeast part, represents the “spur” of Italy.

5. The Tavoliere Foggia is the largest and most important urban centre of the large plain known as the Tavoliere that lies in the northern part of Puglia, between the foothills of the Apennine mountains and the Adriatic sea. The area is called the Tavoliere or `chessboard' because of the characteristic patchwork of cornlands and grasslands

6. Looking east towards the sea

7. The Gargano coast << vorheriges - previous zurueck - back Gargano naechstes - next >>

8. Gargano – The town of Vieste

9. Gargano pine trees and golden beaches

10. Our economy agriculture, breeding, and fishing; industries of different kinds tourism Foggia is an important rail and road junction. Lying in the heart of the fertile Apulian plain, it is the leading wheat market of southern Italy. The principal industries of the city are flour milling and the manufacture of pasta, cheese, olive oil and wine. The Gargano promontory with its white villages, golden beaches and sunbathed landscape is an attraction for Italian and foreign tourists. A National Park was founded there in 1995.

11. Gargano’s National Park The Park covers a total surface area of 121,118 hectares and includes most of the Gargano promontory and of the lower lying marshes and flatlands.

12. Cyclamens

13. A little bit of history Foggia is believed to have been founded by the inhabitants of Arpi (also called Argyrippa, Greek Argos Hippion), a Greek and Roman town that declined after the Second Punic War (3rd century BC); the ruins of ancient Arpi are a few miles north. It may have been named after local pits or cellars (Latin “foveae”) in which the inhabitants stored their grain.

14. The Normans, after conquering the district from the Eastern empire, gave it its first importance. The Norman rule in southern Italy ended by surrendering the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to the Holy Roman (i.e. German) Emperor Henry VI of Swabia. Henry’s son, Frederick II, moved his court to Foggia. He declared it an imperial residence and built a palace. Foggia flourished under the Emperor who had an unconditioned love for this land and its landscape burned by the sun. He built castles, fortifications, amusement and hunting residences along the ways once covered by knights and warriors, traders and pilgrims.

15. Then the power was taken by the Anjou House (1266-1442), and by the Sovereigns of Aragon (1442-1503). Later it was the time of the Spanish viceroy (1503-1707). In the end, after a brief Austrian domination, the Bourbons came to the throne of the Reign of Naples of which Foggia was a part. in 1860 it became part of the Kingdom of Italy.

16. The sheep tracks or “tratturi” Each year, since time immemorial, millions of sheep and thousands of shepherds moved in early autumn from the mountain pastures in Abruzzo to the wide plains of Apulia to come back in late spring, with the melting of snows.

19. From 1447 to 1806 Foggia was the center for collection of the sheep tax on flocks migrating between the highlands in Abruzzo and the plains of Tavoliere. The transhumance economy, still functioning in the Middle Ages, was brought to a superior level of organisation by the Aragonese, who used their experience from the Spanish Mesta.

20. From 1447 to 1806 this building was the site of the Customs House which registered the movement of all sheep from Abruzzi to Puglia and levied a tax, called “Fida”, on each animal which passed through the territory or was taken to the fair.

21. The transfer of the flocks started every year on the 15th of October and took place on the tracks which can be compared to a series of green grassy arteries. These tracks had standard measurements of 111.60 metres. They were marked by the passing and repassing and grazing and resting of thousands of beasts each year.

22. What it is like The town was devastated in turn by the French in 1528, an earthquake in 1731 and Allied bombs during World War II (1943). It has been rebuilt along modern lines. Today the city's streets are all reassuringly earthquake-proof, wide, a modern layout that is handsome enough, but you're going to have to search hard in between the tree-lined boulevards for what is left of the old town.

23. The cathedral The cathedral is an odd Romanesque- Baroque sandwich, the top part tacked on in the eighteenth century after the earthquake.

24. This Cathedral was built in Apulian Romanic style under the reign of William II between 1172 and 1179 and was dedicated to Saint Mary of Fovea. Around the middle of the 17 th century the church was renovated. The front was raised, a new cornice was added and the style changed into Baroque. In 1826 the Church was damaged by a bolt of lighting and had to undergo restoration. After the bombings of World War II the church underwent further changes.

25. The Arch of Frederick II This Norman styled arch is decorated with acanthus leaves. It lies on two eagles with spread out wings, to represent the imperial coat of arms. Frederick II had this arch built to make Foggia the official Imperial residence. The arch is the only remaining part of Frederick’s Palatium which was devastated by the Angioins and ensuing numerous wars.

26. Places of interest in the province

27. San Giovanni Rotondo The new Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church by Renzo Piano

28. Monte Sant’Angelo Here is the famous cavern in which there is the sanctuary dedicated to Saint Michael Archangel. In the darkness of a very ancient cave, the Angel of the Lord is said to have appeared with his flaming sword and left His footprint in the rock. Papi, Saints, monarchs, pilgrims coming from far countries as Scandinavia, came in order to visit it.

30. Halloween was invented at Orsara di Puglia In the countryside of the Subappenine Dauno, the custom of hollowing out pumpkins, carving them like skulls, and lighting them from inside with candles has an ancient history.

31. Halloween in Orsara di Puglia The old people of the region remember that even their grandparents celebrated "fuuc acost", the Eve of All Saints, decorating the streets of the countryside with pumpkins, which are here called "cocce priatorje" and lit bonfire made from branches of juniper at the crossings and in the piazzas.

32. The world of the dead and the world of the living. The crackling of the green juniper branches that burn among the high flames, terrifies the souls of sinners that restlessly wander the back allies. The incandescent sparks rise into the air, luminous and delicate, and they console the souls in Purgatory, helping them to fly towards heaven. The old legends tell of the meeting on this November night of the world of the dead and the world of the living.

33. The inhabitants of Orsara gather in groups to eat together what they have cooked on the embers of the bonfire. But not all the food gets consumed. Trays with sweets and wine are left at various street corners so that together with the living, the souls of the dead can refresh themselves and silently wander about among the churches and the palaces.

34. Dressed as witches, skeletons, and ghosts, the children of Orsara, are the real protagonists of this festival, and after supper they gather to eat sweets and listen to their grandparents tell scary stories about ghosts, magic places, and strange and inexplicable adventures.

35. The Procession of the“Fracchie” in San Marco in Lamis The procession of the “Fracchie“, enormous torches made of big trunks of trees sliced from one end up to half the tree is held on Good Friday in San Marco; the slices are then spread to form a radial pattern filled with some more wood. The conic bands held together with iron rings are laid down horizontally on a trolley. In the late afternoon, the fracchie are lit and dragged with long chains by groups of men along the main road.