300px, The Tavoliere seen from the Gargano promontory. The Tavoliere delle Puglie (; ) is a

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...

in northern

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

, southern Italy, occupying nearly a half of the Capitanata traditional region. It covers a surface of c. 3,000 km², once constituting a sea bottom: it is bounded by the Daunian Pre-Apennines on the West, the Gargano Promontory and 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 ...

on the East, by the Fortore river on the north, and the Ofanto river on the south. It is the largest Italian plain after the Pianura Padana. The name ''Tavoliere'' derives from the

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

term , a table on which ''

Transumanza The ''transumanza'' is the Italian term for transhumance, the traditional twice yearly migration of sheep and cows from the highlands to the lowlands, and back. The word literally means "crossing the land". Ancient custom Transhumance is an anc ...

'' officials classified the areas devoted to sheep farming. In winter the plain is sometimes subject to

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

s by the Ofanto and the Fortore, while in summer

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

is frequent. The main centres, from north to south, are San Severo,

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 Mount ...

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 ...

and Cerignola.

History

Neolithic farmers living in Tavoliere over 7000 years ago practiced ritual defleshing of the dead. Light cut marks on the bones suggest the bones were defleshed up to a year after death. They deposited the bones in Scaloria Cave. The human bones were mixed with animal bones, broken pottery and stone tools. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

the old practices of agriculture and fluvial regulation were lost, the plain being mostly devoted to sheep farming which, using apposite cattle-tracks, reached the Apennines' pasture lands through the Tavoliere. The lands was most marshy and unhealthy. After extensive works of drainage, the plain is now highly cultivated. Crops include

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 ...

, beet,

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 ...

, especially in the area of

, while also spread are cultivations of

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 and

grapes A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

, which produce quality oils and wines.

Communes

The '' comuni'' in the Tavoliere delle Puglie are: Alberona, Apricena, Ascoli Satriano,

Biccari Biccari ( Pugliese: ) is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. Main sights * Historic centre * Byzantine tower of Biccari * Tower Tertiveri * Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin M ...

; Bovino,

Candela The candela ( or ; symbol: cd) is the unit of luminous intensity in the International System of Units (SI). It measures luminous power per unit solid angle emitted by a light source in a particular direction. Luminous intensity is analogous t ...

, Carapelle,

Casalvecchio di Puglia Casalvecchio ( aae, Kazallveqi) is an Arbëreshë '' comune'' and village in the Province of Foggia, Apulia, southern Italy. Mostly originating from a 15th-century migration of Albanians, the residents have subsisted by family farming. Of those n ...

, Castelluccio dei Sauri, Castelnuovo della Daunia, Cerignola,

Chieuti Chieuti ( aae, Qefti) is an Arbëreshë town and '' comune'' 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 ...

Deliceto Deliceto ( Irpinian: ) is a small town and '' comune'' in the province of Foggia, from which it is , in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. Adjacent towns are Ascoli Satriano (to the east); Bovino, Castelluccio dei Sauri (to the north and t ...

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 ...

, Margherita di Savoia, Ordona (''Herdonia

, Orta Nova, Poggio Imperiale,

San Ferdinando di Puglia San Ferdinando di Puglia is a town and '' comune'' in the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. Twin towns * Lariano, Italy * Carapelle Carapelle ( Foggiano: ) is a town and ''comune'' belonging to the Prov ...

, San Paolo di Civitate, San Severo, Serracapriola, Stornara,

Stornarella Stornarella (Neapolitan language, Foggiano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region the southeast of Italy. References

Cities and towns in Apulia {{Puglia-geo-stub ...

, Torremaggiore, Trinitapoli, Troia, Volturino, Zapponeta.

References

{{coord, 41, 28, N, 15, 32, E, region:IT_source:kolossus-huwiki, display=title Landforms of Apulia Plains of Italy Geographical, historical and cultural regions of Italy Foggia