Italian tour manager Tom Coppock shares the history of Puglia and why it makes it such a great place to consider as a bicycle tour in Italy.
Always the bridesmaid; never the bride. That’s the widespread perception of Puglia that has kept it a dark spot on most visitors’ maps of Italy.
the "heel" of Italy
Often called the “heel” of the Italian boot, Puglia historically has had the bad luck to always end up on the periphery of the regional power centers, literally under the heel of a long line of conquerors. As a result, Puglia’s fortunes, more often than not, have hinged on decisions made in distant capitals and battles fought by foreign soldiers. While the Greek city-state of Taranto did enjoy a brief period of regional dominance in the 4th and 5th centuries BC, the city’s subsequent fatal war with Rome set the stage for a destructive series of similar struggles down through the centuries. It was during this war that the term “Pyrrhic victory” was coined after a battle in Puglia in which Pyrrhus’ tactical victory over the Romans on the battlefield was overshadowed by the strategic loss of his best battle-hardened veterans. Pyrrhus was the king of Epirus on the Greek mainland and while he eventually lost the war he was not the last foreign adventurer to bring an army to Puglia with dreams of conquest. In fact, the relatively short distance across the Adriatic between modern-day Albania and Otranto made the region a natural hotspot for subsequent clashes between Eastern Mediterranean rulers like Pyrrhus and peninsular powers like Rome.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine emperors based in Constantinople managed to “reconquer” much of Italy in the 500’s. While most of these conquests were short-lived, they did manage to hold on to the southern tip of Puglia for the next 500 years, keeping this region isolated from the cultural changes sweeping the peninsula. When the Byzantines were forced to pull out of Puglia in the 1000’s, it was not a local uprising that ended their reign, but a new class of conquerors, intent on carving out their own Italian fiefdoms. These Normans, descendants of the Vikings and cousins of William the Conqueror, created a model medieval state including Sicily and all of Southern Italy. This state retained these borders through a number of subsequent changes in the ruling dynasty until it was finally incorporated into the new Italian state in the 19th century. Puglia’s rulers over these centuries would include German emperors, French counts and Spanish Kings. Not surprisingly, the bright lights of these glorious courts were often quite dimmed by the time they reached the heel.
Puglia by night
During these centuries of neglect other parts of the peninsula led Europe in the development of banking, Renaissance humanism, architectural marvels and the growth of a bustling middle class. Thus, it is no coincidence that Italy’s most-visited cities were once independent military powers in their own right. Rome, Florence and Venice, all conquered their weaker neighbors early on in their histories. They then used their military and commercial arms in concert to generate the wealth that paid for the beautiful palaces and churches that continue to draw millions of visitors each year.
When we think of Italy, we think of the art, the Renaissance, the ruins of Rome. For centuries, Italian tourism has largely been driven by a kind of rubbernecking, a fascination with faded greatness. Thus, Puglia, with its less-than-lustrous past has traditionally lacked the cultural sparkle to attract visitors.
Then why is the Puglia bike tour one of our best-selling tours? For cyclists there are some clear advantages to visiting a place that has traditionally taken the back-seat in history.
First and foremost is the lack of development. It’s nice to visit a great cultural city like Rome or Venice on foot, but riding a bike there is not anyone’s idea of a vacation. Like anywhere else in the world, these cities have spilled outside their medieval walls, creating a maze of apartment-block suburbs and traffic that is neither scenic nor relaxing to bike through. In Puglia, the lack of development is the big draw. You would never find a coastal road as peaceful and wild as the one that we ride between Otranto and Leuca in other parts of Italy closer to the historical power centers. Throughout our tour we ride on quiet roads, often only one-lane wide. There are no cars whipping past, and the open stretches of countryside contain only stunning groves of ancient olive trees, stone walls, rocky coastline, vines, orchards and whitewashed farm houses.
Quiet country roads
Second, who wants to vacation in complete modernity? People have been calling Southern Italy backwards for hundreds of years, but if life in Puglia is backwards, you might end up asking yourself why we can’t all stay backwards. These people are certainly not chained to their blackberrys, though they will drop everything to go out into the fields after a rare rainstorm to collect snails for soup.
While the hotels have all the luxuries, you can look out your window and see a shepherd passing by with his flock. Visitors to Puglia thereby have the chance to see a way of life that has long disappeared in the more “advanced” parts of Italy. From a multigenerational family of cheesemakers to an old fashioned butcher, specializing in artisanal salami, we meet people with a sense of place that is refreshing in a globalizing world.
Sheep herd passing through...
Finally, even history’s losers don’t go silently into the night. There are plenty of interesting towns and monuments in Puglia that provide an illuminating glimpse into the region’s past. Following the Turkish sack of Otranto in 1480 the Spanish rulers rebuilt the city into an impregnable fortress and a constructed a line of watchtowers along the coast to warn of further attacks.
Nowadays, these imposing walls make Otranto one of the most beautiful coastal towns in Puglia and each crumbling watchtower is hauntingly evocative as you ride down the coastal road. The constant threat of Turkish invasion also influenced rural architectural practices as landowners built large masserie (fortified farmhouses) where everyone could flee upon the approach of the Turks.
Remnants of the past ...crumbling watchtowers
Nowadays, visitors get to reap the rewards of these uncertain times by staying at beautiful hotels created from these masserie. Our final hotel, Masseria Torre Maizza, is a perfect example of this kind of architecture, set back from the coast, with high whitewashed walls, once intended to foil a Turkish attack.
Even the idyllic trulli, Puglia’s iconic conical stone buildings are another relic of the region’s history of exploitation. The houses were originally built in this style so that the roofs could be easily collapsed, thus negating their property value when the hated tax-collectors came to make their assessments.
Tax-Evading Trulli in Alberobello
Sure, Puglia is not the land of Michelangelo and Bernini, but how many churches do you really want to see on your vacation? If instead, your idea of a great vacation involves riding your bike along untouched coastline, tasting freshly-made mozzarella, and sleeping in 5-star luxury hotels without seeing any other tourists, then Puglia may be just right for you.
Come join me and our great team of guides on a DuVine bicycle tour in Puglia!
