Things to Do in Apulia Italy - Travel Guide & Information

This description page of Apulia, Region Of Italy, will guide you in planning your trip to Italy and help you to find useful travel information about the Things to Do in this Italian Region.

Leisure and sport

The coastline, 400 kilometers long, crowns the Puglia as one of the most beautiful Italian coastal regions. Coasts with thin and white sand beaches, little and lone calette, and wild cliffs offer to the visitor an enchanted landscape and an uncontaminated sea where it’s possible enjoy a variety of water sports. For instance, the well Know Tremiti islands are a paradise thanks its natural environment and its uncontaminated water, perfect for snorkeling and diving. But the inland too, offers many attractions: vast countryside and little rural villages offer limitless possibilities such as trekking, walking, biking, and horseback riding or relaxing in a country farmhouse to discover real Italian country tradition.

Handicraft

The Apulia region has an ancient tradition in ceramics handicrafts that began in the 8th century BC. In the ceramics district (Li cammen’re) of Grottaglie, in the province of Taranto, the roofs, the shops and every corner is covered by caposoni, the traditional yellow or green pots for wine. But here you can find also a huge production of vases, plates and any kind of ceramic and maiolica items in different shapes and colors. Weaving, the embroidery, and lace handicraft are classical occupations in the rural villages of the region, with different specializations. For instance, the area around Lecce is famous for rugs made with the fiocco leccese technique, which gives a curled wool. Papier-mâché is used in making the spectacular allegorical carts for the celebration of Carnival, such as in Putignano’one. But it is also an old tradition to create sculptures with angels and other sacred figures, covered by wax and chalk and enriched with bright colors. Also important are the iron items and basketworks, made in an ancient tradition and still used as work tools and as artistic pieces.

Tradition and Festival

Like all of southern Italy, Apulia (Puglia) has an old and important tradition for its own folklore and costumes. One of the most interesting traditional manifestations is the Putignano Carnival, which is the longest and oldest carnival in Europe. It is the longest because it starts on December 26th with the "Rito della Proppagine", and it is the oldest because it has now been established that it started in 1394. The symbol of the Putignano carnival is the mask of Farinella. The name derives from farinella, an ancient, but extremely tasty, poor's dish consisting of ground chick peas and toasted barley mixed with sauces or eaten with fresh figs. Today the Farinella resembles a court jester with his multicoloured costume and bells decorating the points of his hat, shoes and collar. Originally, however, the Farinella wore a green and white costume, in that those were traditionally the 's colours, and a three-pointed hat which represented the three hills on which Putignano stands. The Farinella was always portrayed in the act of trying to help a dog and a cat make peace, which symbolized the disagreements between the inhabitants of the town.

Otranto holds another important festival which is dedicated to the city’s protector, Saint Oronzo. There is a sumptuous ceremony that has its core in the famous ride: the silver statue of the saint is escorted in a procession by a group of knights in a red costume with white laces, getting on horses sumptuously caparisoned. The whole city has a party for 3 days under beautiful lights and decorations and accompanied by the sound of local bands. Besides the holy festivals and the local carnivals there are a lot of manifestations to remember and recreate the historical main events and a huge variety of sagre, the food festivals which celebrate the old traditional gastronomy and the gifts of the earth.

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