Gargano Peninsula.

9-17-12 POLIGNANO A MARE, ITALIA: Today we did the Gargano peninsula. It is the spur of the boot that is Italy. The area surrounding the peninsula is marshy, flat land and the peninsula rises up more than 2500 feet. It is limestone similar to that we have seen in the rest of Apulia. There is a coastal road, a corniche, that we drove most of the way around the point. The road is a series of cutbacks, switchbacks, and hairpin turns that wind up ravines, over ridges and down into the next ravine. We did about 45 miles of it in two hours, and after lunch in Peschici on the north side, we drove over the top to Monte Sant’Angelo back near our starting point. The interior road was much the same, going down into valleys and up over mountains. We were impressed by the driving until we saw folks doing it on bicycles.

The coastal limestone is eroded into cliffs, headlands, and headlands eroded into islands, pillars and arches. At the base of the cliff, there are grottoes eroded by the waves. The coastal towns, once modest fishing villages, are now filled with resorts and beach clubs, some quite up-scale.

The interior is mostly the Parco Nazionale del Gargano, and a lot of that is the Foresta Umbra, several square miles of temporate forest, dotted with picnic areas and camp grounds. The rest of the park is partly in agriculture—cows, sheep and olives.

Monte Sant’Angelo is, was rather, a large rambling castle and fortress also built by our hero, Frederick II. The exterior limestone has been melted away by the weather in places and the interior largely restored. A great deal of it is open for exploring narrow dark passage-ways, large rooms and the battlements. The views of the sea and coast as well as the mountains and local valleys are wonderful, even on a hazy day.

Then we hairpinned our way back to the coastal road and the Autostrada to get back to our hotel for dinner in their restaurant.


Limestone erodes when battered by ocean waves leaving cliffs and islands.

Island arch.

Grottoes along the bases of the cliff are created by wave action. If they are later uplifted by tectonic forces, they become caves above sea-level and are then eroded by rainwater.

The old fishing village of Vieste is on the east end of the peninsula. The old town is out on the end of a limestone point. The rest of it is now an upscale resort area.

Monte Sant'Angelo is a fortress complex built on a mountain peak with dramatic views. It is deteriorating and partly restored.

View of the interior of Gargano from Monte Sant'Angelo. Unfortunately, it was fairly hazy in the afternoon today.