Northern Puglia: Rugged Coastline, Quaint Towns and Tales of Piracy

Bay of San Felice, Gargano, Northern Puglia

Last week in Puglia I was bowled over by the wildly beautiful Gargano area. Puglia is the very long Southern Italian region which juts out into the Med, and forms the heel of Italy. To the very north of Puglia you will find the Gargano peninsula which has the most wonderful rugged coastline, fabulous caves and picturesque towns. At the centre of this peninsula there is a large massif reaching almost 3,500 ft in height with a forest called Foresta Umbra. By the way the name 'Umbra' here has nothing to do with the region of Umbria but means 'ombrosa', shady.

I write that the coastline is spectacular and I cannot stress this enough. The best excursions to be had are by boat along the coast. I took the photo above just with my iphone, no fancy cameras and absolutely no filter - the colour of the sea was exactly that, turquoise blue and crystal clear.

Our accommodation was in Vieste, which is one of the three largest towns of Gargano, the other two being Peschici and Polignano a Mare. The old town of Vieste has beautiful white cliffs and on one of its beaches a spectacular natural feature, which is called Pizzomunno, and is a limestone monolith. This huge white piece of rock is 25 metres tall and is the product of millennia of erosion by the sea. The word Pizzomunno is Pugliese dialect for the Italian 'pezzo di mondo', piece of the world, or piece of the earth. This is how, very charmingly, the old Puglia people saw it and of course it is exactly that. There is also a legend associated with Pizzomunno ...

The Pizzomunno monolith, Vieste

Dark Tales of Piracy

In the bay of San Felice, through the limestone arch it is possible to see a building, which used to be a look-out tower. The coastline used to be regularly attacked by pirates and the fear of being killed or enslaved by the 'infidels' was a constant worry. The pirates or buccaneers travelled to Europe from North Africa or Turkey, and were the scourge of ports and coastal villages. When successful they would rob, kill or enslave the local population. A series of watch towers were therefore built and are still visible today. If pirate ships were spotted during the night watchmen would light fires and raise the alarm. During the day instead the alarm was raised with smoking signals.

In the centre of Vieste and near the cathedral you will find a large piece of rock which is called Chianca Amara, i.e. bitter stone. In July 1554 on this rock five thousand men, women and children were slaughtered by the hordes of Turgut Reis, who was one of the most famous and dreaded pirates of the time.

Vieste

Vieste

The charm of Vieste comes from its jumble of narrow twisting streets, stone staircases and steep alleyways. Whilst walking if you raise your eyes you may see an old lady sitting on a balcony above just watching the world go by. Here you definitely find the old-fashioned rustic Italy. In the summer months many tourists from Northern Italy make Vieste, Peschici and Polignano their favourite seaside resorts. But it is harder to reach the Gargano peninsula if you fly to Puglia. The nearest airport is Bari, which is 2.5 hours away .... Ouch, yes, I know ....

As well as the Pizzomunno and the Chianca Amara, I recommend visits to the Cathedral and Cala Molinella, which is one of the most beautiful beeches. If you have more time a day at the Tremiti Islands is also highly recommended. The islands are 20 miles off the coast from Vieste and the boat journey takes 1.5 hour.

Eating in Vieste

One of the wonderful aspects of Vieste and generally of all Gargano resorts is its delicious food. 'E' impossibile mangiare male', Italians say, which means It is practically impossible to eat badly in this area. Last week Ian and I ate at a different restaurant every single night and I have to say we were never disappointed. Fish is of course the star produce, but Gargano is also famous from the beef which comes from a local breed of cow, la mucca podolica. The local bread and pasta are also what Puglia is famous for. Then there are wonderful cheeses like caciocavallo and scamorza. Plus a delicious bruschetta topping made with aubergines and flavoured with mint ... Oh, and I forgot the lampascioni, which are little baby onions found in the wild and pickled. You can buy these also in jars.

Talking of food (again ...) last week I was surprised to hear three words that I had never heard before in my life: troccoli, paposcia and trabucco. You eat the first two and the third is something that helps you catch food! Solutions at the bottom of this page ....

Troccoli, home made thick spaghetti

Vieste, typical street

On the way to the airport we drove through the Foresta Umbra and I must say it was really impressive. Beech trees do not generally grow below 800 metres of altitude, yet they grow here! The forest covers 15,000 hectares and apart from beech trees, which are predominant, you will also see different types of oak trees, lime trees and yew trees. The star attraction is a huge Aleppo pine tree which is 700 years old and has a circumference of 5 metres!

The fauna that is to be found here includes deer, boars, wild cats, badgers, foxes and just a few wolves. For birdwatchers there are woodpeckers, blackcaps, owls, nightingales, kites, sparrow hawks, ravens, buzzards and many others. Tourists can go on jeep safaris in the Foresta Umbra, which I think is a very good idea if you want to have a break from the fierce sun.

Back to here and now ... From mid September I will start again my Italian zoom classes. If you are interested in joining a group please drop me a line.

Keep well, everyone!

Annalisa
21st August 2021

troccoli are hand made spaghetti
paposcia is a panino made with a focaccia type bread
trabucco (here below) is a cage to catch fish. It is attached to the coast so that the sea winds do not rip it away from the coast. Trabucchi are a very old way of catching fish.

Vieste, typical street