San Menaio (; in Garganic dialect ), also ''San Menaio Garganico'', is a small village and seaside resort, a ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' of the ''

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 ...

'' of

Vico del Gargano Vico del Gargano is a village and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. Called the "Village of Love", it is part of the Gargano National Park and the Mountain Community of Gargano. The town is bordered by ...

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 ...

and the Apulia region of south-east

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 ...

. The 2001 census counted a resident population of 193 (93 males, 100 females) living in 97 family units. It is a seaside village of rare beauty that unfolds between

Rodi Garganico Rodi Garganico (; Garganico: ) is a town and commune in the province of Foggia, Apulia, south-eastern Italy. Located on a promontory east of the Lago di Varano, it is part of the Gargano National Park and of the Mountain Community of Garg ...

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 ...

, 6 km north of Vico del Gargano along the coastal route of SS89 freeway.
Known for its long sandy beach and for the forests of Aleppo Pines— among the oldest and largest in Italy— which cover the territory and penetrate the village up to the fringes of the beach, it owes its fame in great measure to the early 20th-century writings of Nicola Serena di Lapigio.

History

The history of San Menaio is mixed with the mythology that characterizes the folk tradition for centuries in the Gargano area. In ancient age here had spread the cult of

Cassandra Cassandra or Kassandra (; Ancient Greek: Κασσάνδρα, , also , and sometimes referred to as Alexandra) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be belie ...

and of the goddess

Mena MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...

(from which San Menaio). Tradition tells that it took so much effort by Benedictines first settlements in the area of San Menaio to wipe out idolatry and to change old temples in churches, enlivened with the names of saints and Christian martyrs.
The name of the place is, according to another historical tradition, more widespread and remembered by Giuseppe D'Addetta, to be traced back to the story about the apparition of

Saint Menas Menas of Egypt (also Mina, Minas, Mena, Meena; el, Άγιος Μηνάς, ; 285 – c. 309), a martyr and wonder-worker, is one of the most well-known Coptic saints in the East and the West, due to the many miracles that are attributed to his in ...

, an Egyptian warrior, who saved the inhabitants from Saracens attacks. In the

contemporary era Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it i ...

San Menaio saw its popularity rapidly increased, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, becoming a place of elegant and exclusive resort and holidays, and passing, unfortunately not without exceptions, through innumerable attempts development abuses that have undermined the sobriety of urban plan, which consists mainly of villas with gardens blend perfectly in the

orography Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader discip ...

of the coast.
In those years Italian artist

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 ...

stays here and finds inspiration from the beauty of this places. San Menaio Eastern Waterfront was recently named in his honour.

Geography

The town of San Menaio occupies an area nearly three kilometers long and 900 meters wide, developed mainly along 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 ...

from the historical center, built around the river and the medieval

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...

. The hilly terrain offers a more linear profile nearby the town and moving along the coast towards East

terrain Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin wo ...

becomes more rough near the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

called ''Valazzo'', which marks the eastern boundary of the country. Continuing to east coast rises up to tens of meters and then suddenly become flat at

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

of ''Calenella''. The geology of the sites is typically Karst, with sediments

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

dating from Cretaccio and more recent flood plains and beaches at.cf
Geological Map of Italy (Online)

Hydrography Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primar ...

, although minimal in the rest of the Gargano, consists of two short seasonal torrents crossing the country. Even the

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

is not uniform: the coast near the town border with Rodi Garganico presents almost exclusively

orange tree Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

s (infiltrated by olive inwards); on western side hills are covered by an extensive forest of conifers ( Aleppo pine), the ''Foresta Marzini''.

Beaches

There are four beaches along the coast of San Menaio. All face north-northwest, they are characterized by a fine sandy bottom that has a grain very light and golden color.SeeSand, Gravel, Pebbles - beaches of Gargano" ''Department and Tourism Promotion of the Region Apuli
PDF download
/ref>

San Menaio Beach

It is a long, typically fine sandy beach, which stretches from west to east for more than 2.5 kilometers from ''Murge Nere'' to ''Valazzo''. Wide in some places more than 60 m, is largely equipped and bordered by waterfront.

Monuments and places of interest

Worthy of note is the 14th-century tower called "Torre dei Preposti" (

Tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...

of the Supervisors), a fortress overlooking the sea with functions of defense and customs, which breaks the linearity of the promenade between the old town of San Menaio and the recent residential

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; American and British English spelling differences, see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community ...

called "Murge Nere" (Black Rocks) because of the presence of two huge

monolith A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains. For instance, Savandurga mountain is a monolith mountain in India. Erosion usually exposes the geological formations, which are often ma ...

s of dark rock outcropping from shore. The Church of St. Anthony of San Menaio, simple and austere, dates back to 1600. Situated in a panoramic position, it was converted from a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

in a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

only in 1894.

Economy

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

, the main economic source of the site, has seasonal characteristics, and an international medium-high level target. The sector has received an incentive in 2009 with the opening of the nearby port "Marina di Rodi Garganico". San Menaio is also known for fervent trade citrus DOP "Blonde Orange of Gargano" and "Lemon Femminello of Gargano" with America and European Union.

Notes

Bibliography

* Antonio Beltramelli, Il Gargano, 1907 * Giuseppe D'Addetta, ''San Menaio e dintorni'', Foggia, 1947, Santa Croce * Filippo Fiorentino, ''La memoria abitata'', Napoli, 1998, Alfredo Guida Editore, pp. 128 * Giuseppe de Leonardis, ''Monografia generale del promontorio Gargano'', Napoli, 1858, Stab. poligrafico Pansini * Nicola Serena di Lapigio, '' Panorami Garganici'', 1934, Casa Editrice "Il Solco",

Città di Castello Città di Castello (); "Castle Town") is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of Umbria. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain along the upper part of the river Tiber. The city is north of ...

* Michelangelo Manicone,
La Fisica Daunica
', 1809 Ed. Storia e Letteratura,

XXVI-194 pp. * Domenico Tota, ''La torre di San Menaio'', article on the "Gazzetta di San Severo", October 12, 2002 * Teresa Maria Rauzino, ''article'' on the "Corriere del Mezzogiorno - Corriere della sera" of October 30, 2002 {{authority control Frazioni of the Province of Foggia