Welcome to Gargano - Gargano for vacation - The towns and villages of the Gargano Peninsula

Europe >  Italy > APULIA -> GARGANO             -     Italy > APULIA -> SALENTO

Discover the most profound soul of the Gargano promontory through the most weil known places of worship since ancient times. Crossing the Umbra Forest, the heart of the Gargano National Park, we visit the oldest  Christian sanctuary, that of the Basėlica-Grotto of the appearance of the Archange! Saint Michael at Monte Sant'Angelo. In the afternoon, we go to the most well known Sanctuary of modern times: in San Giovanni Rotondo, where Saint Padre Pio, the Monk with Stigmata, lived and performed his miracles.

Maps territory  of  Gargano. 

They call it "(he spur of Italy" for the way it projects from the heel of Italy's boot, conjuring visions of a remote past when it was an island. Much later, the tnillen nia brought movements of land and sea, and its joining the rest of the peninsula. This is the Gargano, an ancient land rich in traditions and history, charm and discovery, landscapes and panoramas, colours and atmospheres, vegetation and animals, and flavours and rarities. Through the age-old flavours and fragrances of the food-and-wine traditions, you can ready get to know Gargano, this ancient land with its peasant traditions. Here traditional methods are still used for the picking and production of olives, grapes and all the other products that constitute the jewel in the crown of apulian cuisine.

food-and-wine traditions

A biological microcosm, a rare collection of animal and vegetable species that wonderfully represent the wealth of nature that Italy can boast. Animals thrive here that are no longer found elsewhere in Italy. Plants and flowers grow here that are an evocative sample of Italy's most entrancing landscapes.
This heritage could not be left to the unwitting - and invariably dangerous -hands of Man; a heritage which is naturalistic and environmental but also cultural and folkloristic, and which needed safeguarding, preserving and improving. The  Gargano National Park was born with precisely these goals. After various institutional battles and set up in 1995 with the law on Italy's protected areas (Law no. 394/91), the Park today covers a surface area of about 120,000 hectares, taking in 18 Municipalities of the Province of Foggia ( Pugnochiuso,   Mattinata,   Peschici,   San Menaio,   Rodi Garganico,   San Giovanni Rotondo,   Apricena,   Cagnano Varano,   Carpino,   Ischitella,   Island Tremiti,   Lesina,   Manfredonia,   Monte Sant Angelo,   Poggio Imperiale,   Rignano Garganico,   San Marco in Lamis,   Sannicandro Garganico,   Serracapriola,   Vico del Gargano,       ) and a population of more than 200,000 inhabitants. Its head office is in Monte Sant'Angelo.   The Park's establishment was made operative through a system that safeguards and manages its area by pursuing certain precise goals: the preservation of animal and plant species, and geological and ecological sites; the improvement of the environmental heritage and its utilisation, while looking forward towards its sustainable development; the enhancing of awareness of the policies that seek to respect and safeguard the Park's systems; and lastly, the defence and rebuilding of the Park's eco-environmental balances. This is the Park's way forward. This is the Gargano National Park. Of the many species of fauna to be found in this area, the pride of the Gargano National Park is the Gargano roe. Almost impossible to find in other areas of Italy, there are approximately one hundred specimens here. Also to be found are wild cats, colonies of woodpeckers, peregrines, buzzards, kestrels and lanners.An incredible variety of aquatic and pelagic species live in the coasta! and lake areas, from Lesina and Varano to the Tremiti islands, from the humid areas of Frattarolo to the Salso Lake. Wild ducks, seagulls, and coots, living amongst the reeds, bamboo canes, tamarisks, pools and stretches of water, are some of the more easily identifiable species. Besides them, the red heron, reedling and tobacco duck build their nests here, and it is easy to see ospreys, wild geese, shearwaters and peregrines.

The towns and villages of the Gargano Peninsula have evolved at the meeting points of the natural conditions and the population's living requirements. They are in this sense an integral par! of the Gargano National Park and are thus part and parcel ol the great landscape heritage. Their names are: Apricena, Carpino, Ischitella, Lesina, Manfredonia, Mattinata, Monte Sant'Angelo, San Giovanni Rotondo, Serra Capriola, Peschici, Vico del Cargano, Sannicandm Garganėco, Cagnano Varano, San Marco in Lamis, VIESTE, Rodi Garganico, Rignano Garganico and the Tremiti Islands. 

The distribution of the human settlements in the Gargano Peninsula seems to obey a pattern of respect - reticence even - towards its heart, with its dark and ancient forests. By developing around its edges, the villages have left alone the higher parts of the broad plateau. This, together with the area 's history and culture of farming, forestry and animal husbandry, has contributed to preserving its identity.

 As well as their geographical distribution, the Gargano's villages are fascinating for their history and architecture. The latter is noteworthy for the construction types and materials used: over the centuries, the use of local materials has made today's villages blend seamlessly with their surroundings, adding to their allure and value. These characteristics make the villages an integral part of the Gargano National Park, a heritage of historical, artistic and cultural importance that must be preserved and consolidated. The single-unit housing, characteristic terraces, outside staircases, arches, and fish-bone patterns all give the urban landscape a unique touch and thus contribute to the magical and evocative auras of the old towns. The district of Iunno in Monte Sant'Angelo or the historical centres of Vieste,  Vico  del Gargano and Peschici are just two such examples.