MANDURIA

Manduria is one of the biggest and most active cities of the province of Taranto. It owes its prosperity and importance to its position at the confluence of all the arterial roads among the territories of Taranto, Brindisi and Lecce.
Surrounded by the parfums and the colours of the vast Mediterranean Bush and by fertile soils as by many rustic country-house and farms devoted to agro-pastoral activities of prevailingly agricultural economy, in a territory rich in vineyards and olive-groves producing excellent oils and wines, such as the renowned DOC
Primitivo di Manduria.

Manduria is a city that boasts very ancient and noble origins. According to tradition, it was founded by the Messapian many centuries before Christ. It was one of the
most important cities of the Messapic dodecapolis and one of the few centres still keeping the impressive ruins of such an ancient civilization. The Megalithic Walls bear witness of it, partly visible also in the central via del Fossato and in the suburbs neighbouring the vast necropolis which, together with St Pietro Mandurino Chapel
(eighth-century) and the Plinian Fountain (an ancient place for the heathen worship), compose the present Archaeological Park. In a locality called “li Castelli” we have the remains of another ancient Messapic centre: it might be that “Varia” mentioned by Pliny. A charming itinerary includes the visit of the many local churches,
such as the sixteenth-century Mother Church “della SS.Trinità”; the Jewish Ghetto and all the old town of the Baroque Age; the Churches “dell’Immacolata” and “del Rosario” (seventeenth-century). Another peculiar monument, unique of its kind is the Calvario (nineteenth-century) which, by means of polychromic potsherds, re-creates characters, episodes and settings from Jesus’ life; close to it, the Franciscan Convent (1474) stands
wonderful besides its Church. The city is particularly rich in high-class palaces, such as Palazzo Corcioli-Giannuzzi (sixteenth-century)
and Palazzo Imperiali (1717), risen on an ancient Norman castle opening onto Piazza Garibaldi.

Manduria possesses 18 kilometres of coast on the splendid Ionian Sea, where white sandy beaches bathed by the clear waters of San Pietro in Bevagna take turns with rocky cliffs as the ones of Torre Colimena, characterized by its wonderful natural harbour. San Pietro in Bevagna dates back to the 42-45 B.C., when it was founded by Peter the apostle. It is a peaceful bathing resort characterized by long and broad beaches surrounded by dunes of Mediterranean Bush and by its blue and uncontaminated sea: closed between two rivers, the river Chidro and the river Borraco. The remarkable beauty of the first river
is highly appreciated by anyone is fond of
skin-diving.

PROTECTED AREAS

In Puglia, in the northern Salentine Peninsula, where the provinces of Taranto and Lecce meet, you can enjoy the beauty of a lot of protected areas such as the Mouth of the Chidro, the Salt-pan and dunes of Torre Colimena, the Conte marsh and coast dunes and the Cuturi and Rosa
Marina Woods that constitute the Natural Park of Eastern Taranto Littoral.

More precisely, it’s situated in Manduria territory, along its wonderful stretch of coast and in the immediate hinterland. The reserve extends for 1081,34 hectares on a central area whose remarkable naturalistic, landscape and historical importance is submitted to an environmental interest. The “Foce del Chidro”, a waterway 350 metreslong rising from the river Borraco near Torre Colimena to flow into the Ionian sea, bears an important biologic and naturalistic value because of its rare hydrographical characteristics, due to the calcareous nature of the territory, and is the natural background of local traditions and ancient legends. Not far from the mouth, moreover, many marble sarcophagi were found, what meant an highly interesting archaeological discovery.

The protected area of the “Salina e dune di Torre Columena” shows a high diversification of habitats with coast dunes, retro-dunes marshes, salt-pans, formationof Mediterranean Bushes and strips of ilex grove. The saltpan is the most important element of the area: it extends for about 50 hectares and was once upon a time connected with the sea by a channel. In winter a trickle of water running over it makes it the destination of many waterfowls; in summer it turns into a parched land because of the nearly total waters draining. The wheel tracks traced to transport and deposit the salt, witness the picking of the product. In the nearby, the installation known as “Torre della Salina” is still visible beside a sixteenth-centurychapel. There you can see the formations of a priority vegetable habitat rare in Europe, called “Mediterranean salty steppes”. The very important “Duna con Ginepri” surrounded by the Mediterranean bush shows fine specimens of Myrtle and Lentisk.

The “Boschi Cuturi e Rosa Marina” are not so far from the Ionian coast between San Pietro in Bevagna and Manduria. They’re probably the last strip of the renowned forest of Oria, so deeply loved by Frederic II, probably consisting of a forest of Ilex endowed with a thick intricate brushwood. The area is characterized by small expanses of Mediterranean bush, evolved in Ilex grove, inhabited by some animal species such as the snakes locally known as “cervone” and the “columbro leopardiano”, the owl, the barn owl and the Aegean gecko.

The protected area called “Palude del Conte e dune costiere” is a vast moist retro-dunes depression probably originated by the raising shoal. The geological substrate is made up of recent Pleistocene sands and silts. A diversified hydric and halophilic vegetation enriches it by some rare species of the "Red List" such as: the marsh-Orchid (Orchis palustris), and the swamp-Little Bell (Ipomea saggitata). Moreover, it’s a halting-place for migratory birds. The
dune has an exceptional botanical and landscape
value. The Mediterranean bush of Arneo is one of
the most valuable bushes of Salento.