history OF puglia italy
puglia / apuglia History
Sometimes known as Apulia, Puglia is also known as the ‘Heel of Italy. It is a land of lush Olive trees, vineyards, rich brown and red soils, mild wet winters and hot dry summers, and of friendly, open people, with ready smiles. Puglia’s history is a complex weave of colonization, invasion and a continual struggle for independence and the Greeks, Romans, Turks, Saracens and Spanish have all laid claim to parts of Puglia through it’s history. Puglia historically produced much of Italy’s pasta, and today it still produces over half of it's olive oil. It's rich fruity red wines, particularly those from its Salento region are also becoming popular.
Lunch is something to be enjoyed and lasts from between 1pm and 4:30pm. Most businesses and shops, except for restaurants of course, are actually closed during this period, so you need to take this into account when planning your day.
The architecture of Puglia is at once simple, yet stunning and the old quarters provide many insights into the different civilizations that have influenced their architecture. Roman, Greco and Messapian features are often seen side by side and Cisternino is particularly pretty. From a distance, many of the towns appear as beautiful ‘walled’ villages. Many of the houses are painted white to reflect the hot summer sun and indeed Ostuni, located between Bari and Brindisi, is also known as the ‘White City’.
Puglia is the home of the Trulli, simple yet beautiful limestone dwellings with conical roofs, many dating back to the 15th century. Highly sought after by both local residents and well to do outsiders, they have almost a fairy tale quality about them. For more about Trulli please see our article Trulli - how did they come about?
Puglia, like much of southern Italy, has in the past been considered a poor relation to the more northerly regions such as Tuscany. It’s cuisine, the now delightful Trulli, and even the distinctive style of furniture, known as Arte Povera, all originate from the need to make do with little material wealth. Today however, the picture is very different and the many trendy stores and boutiques tucked away inside most towns and villages attest to the growing wealth of the region.
Today Puglia is flourishing, as improved transport links, it’s favorable climate, the beauty and unspoiled nature of it’s countryside and beaches, and it’s warm, inviting people make it a favorite destination for many discerning holiday makers.
Population
The region has a remarkable population density, mostly concentrated in populous centers, while the countryside is all occupied by flourishing cultivation. Agriculture, which was very difficult in the past for the dryness of the land, is now supported by the Aqueduct, so that now the region is among the biggest Italian producers of tomatoes, salad, carrots, olives, eggplants, artichokes, almonds and citrus fruit. Also highly developed is sheep raising in the Tavoliere plain and fishing in the Gulf of Taranto. Tourism in the summer is another great resource, thanks to the beautiful beaches along the coast, and the many tourist villages and campsites.
History
Originally inhabited by an Illyric population, the region was always a strategic area for Mediterranean peoples, and since early times was colonized by the Greeks, who founded the colony of Taranto, then in the 4th century the Romans began their conquest of the territory, and built the Via Appia to connect it to Rome. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD Apulia was for a time under the influence of Byzanthium, then was gradually occupied by the Lombards, the Franks and the Saracens. In the 10th century the Eastern Roman Empire defeated the Saracens and came in control once again, but already the cities were rising in power and requesting more autonomy.
Starting from 1059 the Norman Roberto il Guiscardo occupied part of Southern Italy becoming Duke of Puglia and Calabria, and since then the history of Apulia was the history of the Kingdom of Sicily. The Normans gave way to the Swabians and these to the Anjou and the Aragonese, and the region suffered all the evils of bad government, until in the 18th century some improvement took place under the Bourbons, who improved the communications building roads and ports, and granted some social and land reforms. In 1860 Puglia was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy, and at that time it was divided into only three provinces: Bari, Foggia (or Capitanata) and Lecce, while Taranto and Brindisi were added in 1927.
As a consequence of its variegated history and the different languages spoken in this region for centuries, there are a number of very different dialects: in the northern areas a Neapolitan dialect called northern Pugliese, in the southern part a Sicilian dialect called Salentino, and in isolated areas of Salento a hybrid language dating back to the 9th century called Griko, as well as a rare dialect of the French-Provençal language called "Faetar" is spoken in Faeto and Carlantino in the Province of Foggia and in a number villages, the "Arbëreshë" dialect has been spoken since Albanian refugees settled there in the 15th century, following the invasion of the Balkans by the Turkish Empire.
