The Province of Foggia ( it, Provincia di Foggia ; Foggiano: ) is a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

in the

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

(Puglia) region of southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. This province is also known as Daunia, after the

Daunians The Daunians ( el, Δαύνιοι, Daúnioi; la, Daunii) were an Iapygian tribe that inhabited northern Apulia in classical antiquity. Two other Iapygian tribes, the Peucetians and the Messapians, inhabited central and southern Apulia respectivel ...

, an

Iapygian The Iapygians or Apulians (; el, Ἰάπυγες, ''Ĭāpyges''; la, Iāpyges, Iapygii, Umbrian ''Iabuscer'') were an Indo-European-speaking people, dwelling in an eponymous region of the southeastern Italian Peninsula named Iapygia (modern Ap ...

pre-Roman tribe living in Tavoliere plain, and as Capitanata, derived from ''Catapanata'', since the area was governed by a catepan as part of the

Catepanate of Italy The Catepanate (or Catapanate) of Italy ( el, ''Katepaníkion Italías'') was a province of the Byzantine Empire from 965 until 1071. At its greatest extent, it comprised mainland Italy south of a line drawn from Monte Gargano to the Gulf of S ...

during the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...

. Its

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

is the city of

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

Geography

The province of Foggia can be divided in three parts: one centered on its capital called '' Tavoliere'', another along the

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

named ''

Daunian Mountains Daunian Mountains (in Italian Monti della Daunia or Monti Dauni, or also improperly Subappennino Dauno) are a mountain range in southern Italy, constituting the eastern appendix of the Campanian Apennines. They occupy the western fringe of Capita ...

'' and the third on the

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to back ...

of the

boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is cle ...

-shaped Italian

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

called ''

Gargano Gargano (, Gargano Apulian Italo-Romance arˈgæːnə is a historical and geographical sub-region in the province of Foggia, Apulia, southeast Italy, consisting of a wide isolated mountain massif made of highland and several peaks and forming ...

''. The ''Tavoliere'' is an important agricultural area:

grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink. Grapefruit is ...

olives The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' 'M ...

, durum

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

and

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

are the chief products. It is called "the granary of Italy" because of its significant wheat production. ''Daunian Mountains'' lie along the border with

Molise Molise (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Neapolitan, Mulise) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise, alongside the region of Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effe ...

and

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

. Scattered with small villages, the mountains are covered by forests and pastures, with the main produce being

ham Ham is pork from a leg cut of pork, cut that has been food preservation, preserved by wet or dry Curing (food preservation), curing, with or without smoking (cooking), smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. Lo ...

s and

caciocavallo Caciocavallo is a type of stretched-curd cheese made out of sheep's or cow's milk. It is produced throughout Southern Italy, particularly in the Apennine Mountains and in the Gargano peninsula. Shaped like a teardrop, it is similar in taste to t ...

cheese.

Faetar Faetar, fully known as Faetar-Cigliàje (Italian: ) is a Franco-Provençal language that is spoken in two small communities in Foggia, Italy: Faeto and Celle di San Vito, as well as émigré communities in Ontario, Canada (primarily Toronto ...

, a language descended from

Franco-Provençal Franco-Provençal (also Francoprovençal, Patois or Arpitan) is a language within Gallo-Romance originally spoken in east-central France, western Switzerland and northwestern Italy. Franco-Provençal has several distinct dialects and is separ ...

, is spoken in two villages:

Faeto Faeto ( frp, Fayéte, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. It is a mountain village lying astride the Apennines and renowned for its prosciutto, an Italian dry-cured ham known as . Residents ...

and

Celle di San Vito Celle di San Vito ( frp, Cèles de Sant Vuite, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia of the Apulia region in southern Italy. Located upon the Daunian Mountains, Celle di San Vito is by far the smallest municipality in Apulia. Unlik ...

. The ''Gargano'' peninsula is partially

mountainous A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

and partially forested, ''

Foresta Umbra Gargano (, Gargano Apulian Italo-Romance arˈgæːnə is a historical and geographical sub-region in the province of Foggia, Apulia, southeast Italy, consisting of a wide isolated mountain massif made of highland and several peaks and forming ...

'' with

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic character ...

typical of

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...

, the only part of the ancient

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

remaining in Italy. Allegedly its name comes from the word ''ombra'' (shadow) because of its density that prevents light from entering. The

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

of ''Gargano'' has many

beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

and tourist facilities. In the north are two major

salt lakes A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salt (chemistry), salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of ...

Lesina and Varano. It produces

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

s, olive oil and typical mountain and seafood items.

Population

It has an area of and a total population of 627,102 (2012). There are currently 61 ''

comuni The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' (singular: ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'') in the province, see Comuni of the Province of Foggia.

Population centers

Main centers in the province are: *

, the capital and native city of

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Umberto Giordano Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 186712 November 1948) was an Italian composer, mainly of operas. He was born in Foggia in Apulia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples. His first opera, ''Marina ...

. Favourite residence in Apulia of Frederick II at the beginning of the 13th century. During his reign it was the most important town of the province and to alternate periods of the Empire. *

San Severo San Severo (; formerly known as Castellum Sancti Severini, then San Severino and Sansevero; locally ) is a city and comune of c. 51,919 inhabitants in the province of Foggia, Apulia, south-eastern Italy. Rising on the foot of the spur of Gargano ...

, the old capital and city of

comics artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

Andrea Pazienza Andrea Pazienza (; 23 May 1956 – 16 June 1988), was an Italian comics artist and painter. Biography Early life Pazienza was born in San Benedetto del Tronto, province of Ascoli Piceno, in 1956. Growing up in his father's town of San Severo ...

. *

San Giovanni Rotondo San Giovanni Rotondo is the name of a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia and region of Apulia, in southern Italy. San Giovanni Rotondo was the home of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina from 28 July 1916 until his death on 23 September 1968. T ...

, home of

Padre Pio Francesco Forgione, OFM Cap., better known as Padre Pio and as Saint Pius of Pietrelcina ( it, Pio da Pietrelcina; 25 May 188723 September 1968), was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He is venerated as a s ...

and place of the church devoted to him. *

Manfredonia Manfredonia is a town and commune of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Foggia, from which it is northeast by rail. Manfredonia is situated on the coast, facing east, to the south of Monte Gargano, and gives its name to the gulf to the east of i ...

and

Vieste Vieste (; nap, label= Viestano, Vìst) is a town, ''comune'' and former Catholic bishopric in the province of Foggia, in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. A marine resort in Gargano, Vieste has received Blue Flags for the purity of its wat ...

archiepiscopal see of

. *

Mattinata Mattinata ( nap, label= Foggiano, Matenéte) is a seaside resort town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Foggia, Apulia, southern Italy. Geography The only town in Apulia facing south the Adriatic sea, Mattinata is part of the ...

and

Peschici Peschici is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. Famous for its seaside resorts, its territory belongs to the Gargano National Park and to the Gargano Mountain Community. Geography Peschici is ...

, notable sea-side resorts. *

Lucera Lucera ( Lucerino: ) is an Italian city of 34,243 inhabitants in the province of Foggia in the region of Apulia, and the seat of the Diocese of Lucera-Troia. Located upon a flat knoll in the Tavoliere Plains, near the foot of Daunian Mountain ...

, one of the residence of Frederick II. Other centers of interest are: *

Cerignola Cerignola (; nap, label= Cerignolano, Ceregnòule ) is a town and ''comune'' of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Foggia, southeast from the town of Foggia. It has the third-largest land area of any ''comune'' in Italy, at , after Rome and Ra ...

, native town of

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

Nicola Zingarelli Nicola Zingarelli (; August 28, 1860 — June 6, 1935) was an Italian philologist, the founder of the Zingarelli Italian language, Italian dictionary. He was born in Cerignola (Apulia) and died in Milan. External links

* 1860 birt ...

founder of the

Zingarelli ''Zingarelli'' is a modern Italian monolingual dictionary. Described as a ''Vocabolario della Lingua Italiana'' di Nicola Zingarelli, it is published annually by the Zanichelli publishing house. The first edition is dated 1917. References

Italian

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...

and

syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...

Giuseppe Di Vittorio Giuseppe Di Vittorio (Cerignola, 11 August 1892 – Lecco, 3 November 1957), also known as Nicoletti, was an Italian trade union leader and Communist politician. He was one of the most influential trade union leaders of the labour movement after ...

Torremaggiore Torremaggiore is a town, '' comune'' (municipality) and former seat of a bishopric, in the province of Foggia in the Apulia (in Italian: ''Puglia''), region of southeast Italy. It lies on a hill, over the sea, and is famous for production of w ...

, native town of

Nicola Sacco Nicola Sacco (; April 22, 1891 – August 23, 1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (; June 11, 1888 – August 23, 1927) were Italian immigrant anarchists who were controversially accused of murdering Alessandro Berardelli and Frederick Parmenter, a ...

* Troia, site of a 10th century cathedral, refounded by Byzantine Katepan

Basil Boioannes Basil Boioannes ( grc-gre, Βασίλειος Βοϊωάννης, Basíleios Boïōánnēs, ; la, Basilius Bugianus, ), in Italian called it, Bugiano, label=none, i=no (), was the Byzantine catapan of Italy (1017 – 1027 Chalandon, Ferdinand. ' ...

in the early 11th Century. * Margherita di Savoia, major center of

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

production (and will be one of the three municipalities leaving the province in 2009 to form the new

Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani The Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani is a province of Italy in the Apulia region. The establishment of the province took effect in June 2009, and Andria was appointed as its seat of government on 21 May 2010. It was created from 10 municipalitie ...

) *

and

, two towns where an extremely rare daughter language of the

Franco-Provençal language Franco-Provençal (also Francoprovençal, Patois or Arpitan) is a language within Gallo-Romance originally spoken in east-central France, western Switzerland and northwestern Italy. Franco-Provençal has several distinct dialects and is separ ...

has been spoken since the 14th century. The dialect, Faetar-Cigliàje, is only spoken by 1,400 people in the world.

Economy

Although less important today, the agricultural sector remains the mainstay of Foggia's economy; it is nicknamed the "granary of Italy". The few industries present are mostly devoted to food processing. Most peeled tomatoes in Europe come from Foggia. Every year, two million tons of tomatoes are produced but farmers receive only eight cents per kilo. To survive in the free market, most tomato farmers recruit illegal immigrants. Angelo van Schaik
"Bureau Buitenland: de Italiaanse tomaat,"
''Villa VPRO'' Radio1 (26 August 2010).

Tourism

Foggia receives many Catholic pilgrims each year to locations such as the

Sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel The Sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel ( it, Santuario di San Michele Arcangelo) is a Roman Catholic shrine on Mount Gargano, Italy, part of the commune of Monte Sant'Angelo, in the province of Foggia, northern Apulia. It has the dignit ...

Monte Sant'Angelo Monte Sant'Angelo ( Foggiano: ) is a town and ''comune'' of Apulia, southern Italy, in the province of Foggia, on the southern slopes of Monte Gargano. History Monte Sant'Angelo as a town appeared only in the 11th century. Between 1081 and 1103, ...

which was visited by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in 1987 and to nearby

the home of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina from 1916 until his death in 1968.

References

External links

Official website (in Italian)

Foggia portal

Foggia news

Centro Studi Naturalistici

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