20 Attractions to Explore Near Ofanto

Castel del Monte, located in the municipality of Andria, rises on a rocky hill dominating the surrounding countryside of the Murgia region in southern Italy near the Adriatic Sea. A unique piece of medieval architecture, it was completed in 1240. Because of its relatively small size, it was once considered to be no more than a "hunting lodge", but scholars now believe it originally had a curtain wall and did serve as a citadel.

The Alta Murgia National Park, abbreviated to PnAM, is a national park established in 2004 located in Puglia, in the provinces of Bari and Barletta-Andria-Trani. The administrative headquarters of the Park are in Gravina in Puglia, in Via Firenze n. 10. The park has an extension of 68,033 hectares. It extends in the highest part of the north-west Murge plateau. It coincides with a part of the largest special protection area established to protect the steppe to grasses, the habitat of the lesser

The Altopiano delle Murge is a rectangular karst topographic plateau in southern Italy. Most of it is within Apulia and corresponds to the sub-region known as Murgia or Le Murge. The plateau is mainly located in the metropolitan city of Bari and the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, but extends into the provinces of Brindisi and Taranto to the south, and in Matera in Basilicata to the west. The name is believed to come from Latinmurex, which means "sharpened stone".

The castle of Melfi is a monument of Basilicata owned by the Italian state, among the most important medieval castles in Italy. Its foundation, at least from the elements still visible, dates back to the Norman period and has undergone some changes over time, especially in the Angevin and Aragonese periods. The castle of Melfi is a monument of Basilicata owned by the Italian state, one of the most important castles medieval buildings of Italy.

Built-in the Norman period, it is located on a peak about 15 km from Genzano di Lucania. The castle dominates a vast valley which was an important hinge between the territories of the Bradano dominated by the Byzantines and the northern territories of Basilicata dominated by the Lombards and Normans. Conceived by the Normans as a defensive system, it was the scene of a battle between Normans and Byzantines in which the latter were defeated.

The isolated Monte Vulture is a stratovolcano with a summit caldera and a few parasitic cones that erupted lavas and pyroclastics covering 150 km2. The volcano was constructed on a ridge; the valley to the east and tributaries to the north and south became sediment traps for volcaniclastic materials emplaced by fluvial reworking and directly from volcanic activity.

The abbey of San Michele Arcangelo is an abbey that rises in Monticchio, whose construction dates back to the eighth century AD, around a cave inhabited by Basilian monks. It was built on a cave dug into the tuff, near which votive deposits dating back to the IV-III century BC were found. The abbey then passed to the Benedictines, to the Capuchins, and, in 1782 to the Constantinian military order, which owned it until 1866. The entire complex consists of a multi-story convent, an eighteenth-cen

The sanctuary of San Michele Arcangelo is located in Monte Sant'Angelo, on the Gargano, in the province of Foggia. This is also known as Celeste Basilica, as, according to tradition, directly consecrated by the Archangel Michael. It has the dignity of a minor basilica and is part of the major centers of worship of the Archangel in the entire West together with the sacred church of San Michele in Val di Susa and Mont-Saint-Michel in France.

The Lago Piccolo regional reserve of Monticchio is a protected natural area located in the municipalities of Rionero in Vulture and Atella, in the province of Potenza. The reserve occupies an area of ​​187 hectares and was established in 1984. The small Lake of Monticchio together with the Large Lake constitute the pair of volcanic lakes that has occupied what remains of the ancient crater of the Vulture volcano. The Reserve falls within the territory of the municipality of Atella.

The church of Santa Maria Assunta and San Canio bishop is a Catholic place of worship in Acerenza and the cathedral of the archdiocese of Acerenza. The current cathedral was built between the 11th and 13th centuries on the remains of a previous early Christian church, which in turn was built on what remained of an ancient Roman temple dedicated to Hercules Acheruntino. The construction works began thanks to the generosity of Roberto il Guiscardo in 1059 with the bishop Godano.

Monticchio is a fraction belonging to the municipalities of Atella and Rionero in Vulture, in the province of Potenza. Located on the slopes of Monte Vulture, an extinct volcano of the southern Apennines, it preserves a colorful environmental heritage, which makes Monticchio a destination for visitors especially in the summer. Since 1971 the Lago Piccolo di Monticchio regional reserve has been established, which represents the natural habitat of a rare endemic species of night butterfly, the Bra

Castel Lagopesole is one of the hamlets of Avigliano, in the province of Potenza, which has 652 inhabitants. Lagopesole is known for its Swabian past, linked to the figures of Frederick II and his son Manfredi and for the events related to the chief brigant Carmine Crocco. It is located on a hill 829 meters above sea level, overlooking the underlying Vitalba Valley. From the relief on which the famous castle stands, it is possible to clearly see Monte Vulture. In the hamlet, there was the Pesole

Vignanotica Beach is located along with the Provincial 53 that connects Vieste to Mattinata. It is a splendid beach of sand mixed with gravel and pebbles, about 500 meters long, characterized by the presence of multiple caves dug by the sea and by the high and white limestone cliff behind it, very steep. It is a true paradise for romantic getaways. In the highlight of the summer, it is populated and the bathing establishments are equipped.

Villa San Giovanni is an Italian town of 13 098 inhabitants in the metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria in Calabria. The city overlooks the Strait of Messina and its port is the main ferry terminal for Sicily. Punta Pezzo, in fact, located in the municipality of Villa, represents the closest point between the Calabrian and Sicilian shores: this has made the city the ideal location for crossing the strait.

The Gargano, sometimes nicknamed the spur of Italy, is a subregion of Italy coinciding with the homonymous mountain promontory that extends in the northern part of Puglia and corresponds to the north-eastern sector of the province of Foggia. Semi-surrounded by the Adriatic Sea, but limited to the west by the Tavoliere delle Puglie, its territory includes the Gargano National Park. The Gargano peninsula is partly covered by the remains of an ancient forest, Foresta Umbra, the only remaining part

The Gargano National Park Covering more than 120,000 hectares, the Gargano National Park is well worth exploring, with its ancient forests and islands bathed in crystal-clear waters. The Park harbors several protected areas, including the Marine Reserve of the Tremiti Islands, an area unlike anywhere else thanks to the extraordinary beauty of its sea beds and natural caves. Inland, the Gargano promontory is home to the last pocket of the verdant Umbra Forest, which was already a vast habitat in

San Fele is an Italian town of 2 800 inhabitants in the province of Potenza , in Basilicata . Historically it comes from the fiefdom corresponding to the Vitalba Valley , together with Rionero in Vulture , Monticchio , Sant'Andrea, Montemarcone, Montesirico, Rapone. San Giustino de Jacobis is known for being born here and for the presence in its territory of one of the oldest and most mysterious sanctuaries in Basilicata : that of Santa Maria di Pierno.

The Norman-Swabian castle of Bari, a symbolic building of the city of Bari, is an imposing fortress that stands on the edge of the old city. Since December 2014, the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities has been managing it through the Puglia museum complex, which in December 2019 became the Regional Museum Directorate. The castle is surrounded by a moat on all sides, except the northern section, which was bordering the sea and can be accessed from the bridge and the gate on the southe

The Bari Cathedral is a religious building of Bari in the region of Apulia in Italy. Although less known than the Basilica of San-Nicola is the seat of the archbishopric of Bari-Bitonto. It is dedicated to Sabin Canosa, a bishop of the vi th century whose relics were made to the ix th century . The current building was built between the xii th and xiii th centuries, on the site of the ruins of the imperial Byzantine cathedral destroyed in 1156 by William I st of Sicily.

The Basilica of St. Nicholas was built in the late 11th century to shelter and venerate the relics of St. Nicholas that reached Bari on May 9th, 1087 from the homonymous church in Myra, Lycia. The classical Romanesque-style basilica is located within the ancient fortified citadel, once occupied by the Catapan Court. It was originally constructed to house the relics of St Nicholas, which were stolen from Turkey in 1087 by local fishing folk. Today, it is an important place of pilgrimage for both