History and culture
4.1 million people live in an area of 19,363km2. Apulia has many famous sights. The ancient land was either inhabited or ruled by the mysterious people of Daunia, Peucezi, Messapi, the Greeks, the Romans and the Byzantines. If you wish to view Magna Graecia’s principal city you should make a trip to Taranto. The most noticeable and striking monuments in Apulia mostly date back to the era of Emperor Frederick II, whereby the Castel del Monte is especially impressive. But Apulia is above all a land dating back to the Age of Romanticism. Significant Roman buildings can not only be found in all coastal cities but also in the hinterland.
The land and its people
It’s not only on the Tyrrhenian coast of Campania that life is so colourful, cheerful and vociferous – it’s the same on the Apulian Adriatic Coast. The elongated region – Puglia, as the Italians call it – stretches from the spur of the boot, which projects into the sea for 70 kilometres, to the tip. Although Apulia has been through bitter economic times, the people love their land and are proud of their homely, country traditions.
Food and drink
The Apulian cuisine presents itself as being simple, rustic and light, whereby a distinct north-south influence can be felt and tasted. In the north of Apulia, the people love to use a lot of garlic in their cooking, in the central part of Apulia they like cooking with garlic as well as onions and in the south onions are definitely favoured. Almonds, olives, cereal crops, tomatoes and wine flourish in the fertile coastal plains. Apulia is an important wine growing region where predominantly full-bodied red wines are produced. Primitivo, Negroamaro and Sangiovese are important types of vine. A total production of 7,580,000 hl is produced on an area of land covering 107,571 ha.
