Fasano
Fasano is an Italian town of 40,000 inhabitants (2018) in the province of Brindisi in Apulia. Fasano is famous mainly for the Safari Zoo and Fasanolandia, but there are many other tourist attractions such as the national archaeological museum of Egnatia.
Understand
Located in the centre of an ideal triangle whose vertices are the cities of Bari, Brindisi and Taranto, about 50 km away, Fasano marks the border between Salento and the Land of Bari. Its territory includes various hamlets, extending for 15 km on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, penetrating the Valley of Itria.
Fasano is the most highly populated town in the province of Brindisi, after the capital city. It borders with the municipality of Monopoli to the north, the municipalities of Ostuni and Cisternino to the south, the Adriatic Sea to the east, and the municipalities of Locorotondo and Alberobello to the west.
The inhabitants are named "fasanesi" and their Patron Saints are San Giovanni Battista and Santa Maria di Pozzo Faceto. For years, Fasano has been confirmed as one of the top ten locations in the region in terms of tourist arrivals and presences: in 2018 it ranked sixth in Apulia, with about 667,000 visitors and about 157,000 arrivals throughout the year.
History
It originates from the Casale di Santa Maria di Fajano (Santa Maria de Fajano), founded in 1088 by part of the population that had abandoned Egnatia, a highly important port on the ancient Trajan Way. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the city of Egnatia was gradually abandoned. The emigrants took refuge in small rocky villages and founded several hamlets throughout the Fasanese and Monopolitan territory. Meanwhile, Egnazia was repeatedly sacked by the various invaders of Apulia.
On 2 June 1678 the people of Fasano experienced a memorable event: the Victory against the Turks. Tradition has it that the Virgin Mary appeared in the sky to lead the opposition of the inhabitants of Fasano against the Turkish pirates, who landed at night with the intent of plundering the city. That moment of glory is remembered every year with La Scamiciata, on the Feast of the Patron Saints: San Giovanni Battista and Santa Maria di Pozzo Faceto.
During the Fascist era, Fasano experienced a notable urban and infrastructural development: many important buildings were built, such as the I Circolo "Collodi" primary school, or renovated and transformed, such as the municipal villa and the Town Hall. In 1927, the province of Brindisi was established from the southern part of the province of Bari, of which Fasano was part, and from the northern part of the Province of Lecce. Also, during the Fascist era the cross of the Knights of Malta was removed from the municipal coat of arms. It was later restored with the advent of the Republic.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Fasano experienced another important urban development, thanks to various political figures of the time. Today Fasano is a tourist town with a great agricultural and artisan tradition.
In 2008 Caparezza shot some scenes of the video clip of Vieni a ballare in Puglia at the excavations of Egnazia and the dunes of Torre Canne, while in 2012 some episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful were shot in Fasano. In 2013, 2014 and 2015 the three seasons of the Braccialetti rossi drama directed by Giacomo Campiotti were shot in the town.
Get in
By train
The Fasano station of the Ferrovie dello Stato (just outside the town), has a long-distance railway route of regional interest towards Bari, Brindisi and Lecce. In the territory of Fasano there is also the Cisternino Station of the State Railways in the Pozzo Faceto district, with regional railway routes to Bari, Brindisi and Lecce.
By bus
In the city there is a coach service to the hamlets and a bus service to Bari, Brindisi and other neighboring towns, as well as some national destinations. The lines are Sita Sud, STP and Ferrovie del Sud Est.
By boat
There is also a small fishing port in Savelletri and Torre Canne. A tourist port has also been built in Savelletri.
See
In Fasano we can find Fasanolandia safari zoo and tourist resorts such as Selva di Fasano, Savelletri and Torre Canne, the seaside beaches, awarded for several consecutive years with the FEE Blue Flag, various accommodation facilities, the national archaeological museum of Egnatia, the Lama d'Antico rock park, the Dune Costiere regional park, the thermal baths of Torre Canne, various sports facilities and various events organised especially during the summer.
- 🌍 Fasanolandia (ZooSafari of Fasano), Via dello ZooSafari, ☏ +39 0804414455. The Zoosafari of Fasano and Fasanolandia is a tourist complex that includes a zoological garden and an amusement park located in Fasano, in the province of Brindisi. The area extends for thirty hectares and is home to about 3000 animals of 200 different species, which can be observed along a car route (zoo safari). Particularly interesting to see are the giraffes, zebras, lions and Tibetan bears, as well as the only polar bears in Italy.
- Historical centre (U'mbracchie). In dialect called U'mbracchie, word derived from the Latin umbraculum, which means 'shadow'. In fact, its narrow whitewashed alleys, typical of southern towns, do not allow the sun to beat, thus keeping the place cool for most of the day. The churches also contribute to the scenography: the tiny chapel of Santa Maria della Grazia, the late Renaissance master church dedicated to San Giovanni Battista, Sant'Antonio Abate, with its ancient Franciscan cloister, and many others.
- Church of Santa Maria della Grazia., Via S.Maria della Salette.
- 🌍 Mother Church of San Giovanni Battista, Largo San Giovanni Battista, Corso Perrini, 41.
- Church of the Purgative Souls, Via Egnazia, 16.
- Church of Sant'Antonio Abate, Corso Vittorio Emanuele, 72.
- Church of San Nicola, Corso Garibaldi, 1.
- Church of San Francesco da Paola in Fasano.
- 🌍 Minaret (Minareto di Fasano). Made at the Selva di Fasano in 1918 by Damaso Bianchi, a painter and nobleman from Fasano, with the workforce that came for the undertaking from Africa, most likely from distant Tunisia, as well as most of the materials used. A minaret very similar to the thousands scattered in Muslim countries, with the characteristic balcony from which, five times a day, the song of the muèzzin rises high, modulating with musical accents the 'suras' that, from the Koran, preach the teaching of the Prophet. The unique building was used as a family summer residence.
- 🌍 Egantia (Gnazia), Via delle Carceri. It is an ancient Apulian city (of which today only the ruins remain), is near Fasano. Center of the messapi or peucezi, it was the seat of ceramics manufactures of the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. It is now located in the province of Brindisi (near the border with Bari) and a few kilometers north of Savelletri. The center of Ignazia is one of the most interesting archaeological sites in Apulia. The first excavations were carried out in 1912 and in 1978 the current archaeological museum was built. Excavations conducted by the University of Bari in collaboration with the municipality of Fasano are still in progress. Among the most important discoveries, there is the other half of the porticoed square discovered by Quintino Quagliati in 1912 and of other interesting structures that are helping archaeologists to clarify some urban planning apects not fully known so far.
- 🌍 National Archaeological Museum of Egnazia, Via delle Carceri, pm-pug.museoegnazia@beniculturali.it. It is near the archaeological excavations and consisting of eleven sectors, today hosts three exhibitions: "Documents of the Bronze Age", "Global Archeology" and "The History of Egnazia".
- Olive Oil Museum at Masseria S.Angelo de' Graecis (Abbey of San Lorenzo), Contrada S. Angelo. It displays machinery and tools that tell the story of oil production.
- Ecomuseum of Valle d'Itria, Via Morelli, 24, Locorotondo. It is a large museum founded in 2010 with the municipalities of Alberobello, Cisternino, Fasano, Locorotondo, Martina Franca and Monopoli.
- 🌍 Museo della Casa alla Fasanese, Via Mercato Vecchio, 3. It is a live museum in the historic centre of Fasano, home to the local cultural association "U'mbracchie" for the redevelopment of the historic center. Inside it is possible to relive the essence of the characteristic house, unique in its kind, admiring the ancient objects and tools of the past.
Do
The sea of Fasano consists of free coasts or in concession from Savelletri with the cliffs to Torre Canne with the beaches.
- 🌍 San Domenico Golf, Strada Comunale Egnazia, Savelletri, ☏ +39 0804829200.
- 🌍 Terme di Torre Canne, Via Appia Antica, 2, Torre Canne. It is one of the best-equipped complexes, known for over a hundred years for its therapeutic virtues.
- 🌍 "Kennedy" Cinema-Theater, Via Pepe, 23. The theater is included in the show circuit of the Teatro Pubblico Pugliese and hosts various local cultural events, the concert season of the Fasanomusica association and the Fasano Jazz festival, organized annually by the Municipality.
- 🌍 Social Theater, Via Nazionale dei Trulli. The theater was founded by the Mutual Aid Workers' Society at the end of the 19th century, now owned by the municipality and completely renovated in 2007.
- 🌍 Palazzo dei Congressi, Viale Toledo, Selva di Fasano (c/o the Casina Municipale). The theater is a large municipal hall, mainly for summer use, which hosts events and exhibitions including "The Fasanese handicraft exhibition".
Events
- Stella sulla grotta. Since 1986 the great Christmas comet made with thousands of light bulbs located on a natural cave of Monte Rivolta. The Stella sulla grotta committee also organizes the living nativity scene in the cave (6 January), various pilgrimages and a city nativity scene competition.
- Fasano-Selva Cup. It's a car race held in the first Sunday of August.
- Fasano Jazz. It's a Jazz music festival in the streets of the historic center of Fasano hold in June.
- La Scamiciata. It's an historical re-enactment of the victory over the Turks, hold in the Third Sunday of June.
Eat
The dishes of Fasano are:
- Taralli, rings made with flour, wine and oil.
- Focaccia, a particular bread, similar to a very thick and softer pizza, which can be covered with tomatoes and olives, or stuffed with onions or turnips. The day in which all Fasanese eat focaccia is Good Friday, to abstain from eating meat.
- Panzerotti, dishes prepared with homemade dough. You make circular pizzas, fill them with mozzarella and tomato and then fold them in half. You then fry them in boiling oil.
- The zeppole di San Giuseppe, a typical dessert of the South. Fried or baked donuts, decorated on the outside with cream, black cherry and a little cinnamon. They are made on the feast of San Giuseppe.
Sleep
- 🌍 Bed And Breakfast Mari e Monti (Near Castellana Grotte, Zoosafari and Alberobello), Contrada aratico,352, ☏ +39 0809309162, info@mariemonti.it. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 11:00. Bed & Breakfast for €30 for person a night. The b&b have a 2 main room, a bedroom, a small kitchen with a fridge, and a small bathroom 25,00.
- Masseria Slamina, Pezze di Greco, ☏ +39 0804897307. Check-in: 12:00, check-out: 12:00. A beautiful masseria near the Adriatic Sea built in 1600, and surrounded by secular olive trees, has been carefully renovated. The common areas comprise a meetings hall, bar lounge, TV room and an open-air swimming pool. Other facilities include high speed internet, cooking courses, restaurant, sun terrace and wine tasting. €45-55.