Mattinata
Mattinata is a city in the province of Foggia in the region of Apulia (Puglia). Mattinata is on the Gargano Peninsula, in the hinterland of the Adriatic coast in a hollow between the elevations of Monte Sacro, Monte Sant'Angelo and Monte Saraceno. The plain is lined with olive groves, and extends to the flat beach, two huge rocks, two "Faraglioni" rise from the sea as symbols of the town.
Understand
The region was first settled by the Illyrian tribe of the Daunians, who came from the Balkans and the Balkans. the eastern Adriatic coast. A necropolis on Monte Saraceno bears witness to this culture, which perished under Roman rule. The settlement of Apeneste in the bay, in the records of the Roman historian Pliny the Elder.
The place was probably destroyed by a tidal wave or Saracen invasions and was later rebuilt inland. With the construction of the coastal road and, above all, the expressway connection with Manfredonia and Foggia through tunnels, the town was able to boom as a centre of olive oil production and increasingly also as a tourist destination.
Get in
By plane
The closest airport is the Aeroporto Internazionale di Bari "Karol Wojtyla" in the north of Bari.
By train
You travel by train via Foggia, the Ferrovie dello Stato railway line, which runs along the Adriatic, serves Foggia with express trains from Frecce.
By bus
From Foggia there is a direct bus connection from Ferrovie del Gargano via Manfredonia to Mattinata.
By car
Access is by road via the Bologna - Bari motorway. Coming from the north, take the Foggia exit and reach the town on the "Garganica", which has been converted into a dual carriageway, via Manfredonia. From the south you can take the Cerignola and from there the coastal road to the Garganica expressway. After several tunnels to Mattinata Vieste, it becomes very picturesque, but curvy and slow to navigate.
See
- Necropolis of Monte Saraceno. It has more than 500 Daunian graves. Access via a spur road from the SS89Dir1.
- 🌍 Chiesa Santa Maria della Luce parish church (in the old city centr).
- Museo Civico Mattinata. The local museum displays the finds from the necropolis with the graves of the Daunians.
- 🌍 Roman town of Matinum, Villa of Agnuli (very close to the harbour basin). The excavation site of the Roman with masonry of the type des Opus reticulatum.
- 🌍 Ruins of the Santissima Trinità Benedictine Abbey (Abbazia) (at the top of Monte Sacro). In the Middle Ages there was a Benedictine abbey on the 874-m-high Monte Sacro, built in the 11th century. In the 13th century, it was abandoned to decay after earthquake damage. Access is via a spur road that branches off the SS89 east of the village. The footpath to the ruins of the abbey goes off the road to Contrada Stinco shortly before the agriturismo.
- Fraraglioni rocks in the Zagare Bay
Do
Extensive, gently sloping bathing beaches extend on the Baia di Mattinata.
- The coast of the Gargano extends further to the northeast with bays between steep limestone cliffs.
- In the area of the Riserva Statale Monte Barone there are beautiful views of the limestone cliffs, the Faraglioni, which are typical of the Gargano coast.
- Hike to the ruins of the SS. Trinità Monte Sacro abbey
- For those interested in the flora, there are 60 types of orchid to be seen in the Mattinata region.
Buy
Mattinata belongs to the Città dell'Olio association, and an exceptionally good olive oil is produced here.