Puglia

Introducing Puglia

Puglia is sun-bleached landscapes, seascapes and silver olive groves; hilltop and coastal towns; factories and power stations; taranta (mesmerising local folk music); fields polka-dotted with spring flowers; cigarette- and people-smuggling; elderly men on benches and bicycles; elderly women on string chairs outside their houses; summer carnivals; immigrants arriving by boat; and dialects that change from town to town.

Italy’s heel has the country’s longest coastline – 800km of it. Two seas meet here: the Adriatic to the east and the Ionian to the south. It’s legendary for its foodstuffs, in a land where food is all-important. The region looks out to sea and bears the marks of many invading overseas visitors: the Normans, the Spanish, the Turks, the Swabians and the Greeks. Puglia feels authentic – in some places it’s rare to hear a foreign voice. In July and August it becomes a huge party, with thousands of Italian tourists heading down here for their annual break.

They’re here to bask on some of Italy’s loveliest coastline, from the dramatic Promontorio del Gargano to the white-sand beaches of the Penisola Salentina. Geologically speaking the region resembles Croatia – the land mass to which it was once joined – rather than the rest of Italy. The coast alternates between glittering limestone precipices and long beaches edged by waters veering between emerald-green and dusky powder blue.

There are festivals here throughout the year, but fabulous events, concerts (often taranta), and sagre (festivals, usually involving food) take place nightly in July and August. Buy the magazine QuiSalento (€2.50) from newspaper kiosks to see what’s on in the Salento (the southeastern part of Puglia, encompassing Lecce, Brindisi and Taranto; aka Penisola Salentina), or check the website www.quisalento.it.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009