The Altopiano delle Murge (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

for "Murge

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

") is a karst topographic

of rectangular shape in southern Italy. Most of it lies within

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

and corresponds with the sub-region known as Murgia or Le Murge. The plateau lies mainly in the

Metropolitan City of Bari The Metropolitan City of Bari ( it, Città Metropolitana di Bari) is a Metropolitan cities of Italy, metropolitan city in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Bari. It replaced the Province of Bari and includes the city of Bari a ...

and the

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 municipali ...

, but extends into the

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

Brindisi Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histo ...

and

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label=Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important comme ...

to the south, and into

Matera Matera (, ; Materano: ) is a city in the region of Basilicata, in Southern Italy. As the capital of the province of Matera, its original settlement lies in two canyons carved by the Gravina River. This area, the Sassi di Matera, is a comp ...

Basilicata it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

to the west. The name is believed to originate from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''murex'', meaning "sharp stone".

Geography and geology

The Murge plateau covers a surface of some 4,000 km², bordered by the Ofanto river and the

Tavoliere delle Puglie 300px, The Tavoliere seen from the Gargano promontory. The Tavoliere delle Puglie (; ) is a plain in northern Apulia, southern Italy, occupying nearly a half of the Capitanata traditional region. It covers a surface of c. 3,000 km², once c ...

to the north, 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 th ...

to the northeast, and by the Messapic depression, which separates it from the

Salento Salento (Salentino: ''Salentu'', Salentino Griko: ''Σαλέντο'') is a cultural, historical and geographic region at the southern end of the administrative region of Apulia in Southern Italy. It is a sub-peninsula of the Italian Peninsula, ...

peninsula, to the south. It is usually divided into Alta Murgia (High Murgia), the highest area, with poorer vegetation, and Bassa Murgia (Lower Murgia), with more fertile land, extensively planted with

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'' ' ...

-trees for the production of olives. The plateau is geologically homogeneous to a great extent, and lies mostly on the

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

formations of Calcare di Ban and Calcare di Altamura, with

terra rossa Terra rossa (Italian for "red soil") is a well-drained, reddish, clayey to silty soil with neutral pH conditions and is typical of the Mediterranean region. The reddish color of terra rossa is the result of the preferential formation of hematite ...

deposits present in the sequence. The rocks are mostly Cretacic limestone, so that karst landscapes prevail in the area, with doline fields, some large dolines,

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

s, and caves. The largest dolines are near

Altamura Altamura (, ; nap, label= Barese, Ialtamùre) is a town and ''comune'' of Apulia, in southern Italy. It is located on one of the hills of the Murge plateau in the Metropolitan City of Bari, southwest of Bari, close to the border with Basili ...

, Gravina, and

Molfetta Molfetta (; Molfettese: ) is a town located in the northern side of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. It has a well restored old city, and its own dialect. History The earliest local signs of permanent habitation are ...

. The large karstic doline of Molfetta is known locally as the “Pulo”) and lies south-west of the town, near the Adriatic coast, taking the form of an oval-shaped depression with a depth of some thirty metres. Near

Castellana Grotte Castellana Grotte ( Castellanese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. ''Grotte'' means "caves" in Italian. History Geography Agricultural center of the lower Murgia, it is south of Bari. Caves ...

are the

Castellana Caves The Castellana Caves (Italian: ''Grotte di Castellana'') are a karst cave system located in the municipality of Castellana Grotte, in the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. Overview The caves, discovered in 1938 by the speleo ...

, the most important in the Apulia region. The highest point of the plateau is called Monte Caccia, at 679 m. The climate is cold in winter, with average temperatures in the 1-6 °C range. In summer, they rise up to 30 °C. Rain, unlike in the arid

nearby, has an annual average of ca. 950 mm.

Economy

Historically, the Murge have been the seat of

transhumance Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower val ...

practice in animal husbandry, since at least the first millennium BC, with cattle being moved to Abruzzo in summer, and southwards during winter. Until the 19th century, agriculture was characterized by large

latifundia A ''latifundium'' (Latin: ''latus'', "spacious" and ''fundus'', "farm, estate") is a very extensive parcel of privately owned land. The latifundia of Roman history were great landed estates specializing in agriculture destined for export: grain, o ...

, owned by a few landowners, and the relative lack of water, forming part of a region sometimes called "the feudal South". Present-day economic activities include

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

quarries, and the production of olives, wine, almonds, cherries, and mulberries. The animals grazed include sheep, goats, domestic pigs, and cattle. A local breed of horse, known as

Murgese The Murgese horse originated in the Murge, Apulia area of Italy during the Spanish rule, and was developed from Barb and Arabian horses. They are a hardy breed that is used mainly for cross-country riding, although they have also been use ...

, has been bred here since the Middle Ages. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the breed was ridden by Italian knights. In later centuries, the Murgese almost died out, but was revived in the 1920s.Andrea Fitzpatrick, ''The Ultimate Guide to Horse Breeds'' (2016), p. 212 Tourism and small industries (such as construction materials and bottling) are also active.

References

{{Authority control Landforms of Apulia Plateaus of Italy

Geography and geology

Economy

See also

References