Saline di Margherita di Savoia is a

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

in the

province of Foggia The Province of Foggia ( it, Provincia di Foggia ; Foggiano: ) is a province in the Apulia (Puglia) region of southern Italy. This province is also known as Daunia, after the Daunians, an Iapygian pre-Roman tribe living in Tavoliere plain, an ...

in Apulia. The marsh is on the coast of Italy bordering the

Gulf of Manfredonia The Gulf of Manfredonia (Italian: ''Golfo di Manfredonia'') is a gulf on the east coast of Italy.''The Times'' (2003), ''Comprehensive Atlas of the World'' Eleventh Edition, Times Books, Plate 77 (Q4). It is part of the Adriatic Sea. The Monte Garg ...

in the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

. The marsh consists of several canals running longitudinally and transversely relative to the coast. Two channels connect the marsh to the Carapelle River.

Trinitapoli Trinitapoli is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani in the Apulia region of southeast Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is ...

is south of the marsh, Zapponeta is further north along the coast from the marsh and Margherita di Savoia is further south along the coast from the marsh.

History

In ancient times, this area was a coastal lagoon known as Lake Salpi. The

Daunia 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 respectiv ...

ns built a city there known as

Salapia Salapia (also called Salpe and Salpi) is an ancient settlement and bishopric in Daunia, Italy near Cerignola and Manfredonia. The settlement was probably built for and named after the salt marsh - the ancient Lake Salpi is now Saline di Margherita ...

, probably because of the salt incrustations present at the site. This area has been fought over ever since because of the salt. In the twentieth century, the entire area was converted into

saltworks A saltern is an area or installation for making salt. Salterns include modern salt-making works (saltworks), as well as hypersaline waters that usually contain high concentrations of halophilic microorganisms, primarily haloarchaea but also othe ...

. The theoretical study of Italian saltworks reached its peak at this site over this period. However, in the 1980s, a new method known as long-term production was implemented. This method uses the "big beam" harvest method and has advantages over the older method.

References

Landforms of Apulia Marshes of Italy Ramsar sites in Italy {{italy-geo-stub