Walker - 1967 - A geography of Italy

THE SOUTH
basis of relief and geology into the Gargano peninsula, the Murge and the Tavoliere.
The Gargano block falls very sharply to the north either directly to the sea
or to the two lakes o f Lésina and Varano which have been sealed off from the
sea by longshore drift from the north; their alluvial fringes, once malarial, have
now been reclaimed. The southern flank descends in two massive terraces; the
upper one is traversed by the E -W road through S. Giovanni and the lower one
extends due westwards from Manfredonia. Much o f the plateau top, which
reaches looom, is a rocky karstic waste pitted with shallow depressions and
occasional dolines (particularly in the dolomitic areas) but forest, mainly beech
and pines, has survived in the north-east (Bosco d’Umbra) and on the northern
flank, where it gives way to tree crops below. On the upper terrace o f the southern
flank, where several patches o f Quaternary sediments remain, the karst is relieved
by olives and other dry tree crops; on the lower terrace the Quaternary covering
is extensive and the land-use differs little from that o f the Tavoliere (see below).
With these exceptions the peninsula is o f little value agriculturally; apart from a
few springs issuing near sea level its surface is almost entirely devoid o f water and
at best its threadbare mantle o f terra rossa is shallow and discontinuous.
Between the Fortore and the Ofanto the Eocene clays o f the Sub-Apennines
roll down to the TavoUere di Puglie, once known as Daunia or the Capitanata (the
Byzantine designation). It is bordered by a narrow and incomplete fringe o f
Pliocene sediments, mostly clays, where the terrain is hilly or undulating rather
than flat. The plain proper, falling gently to the Candelaro ‘gutter’ and the
dunes fringing the G u lf o f Manfredonia, is surfaced with shallow marine clays,
conglomerates and sands o f Quaternary and recent date whose intercalation provides
well water at shallow depths. Torrential rivers, which scarcely survive as
far as the coast, lace the plain with alluvial strips; their shallow valleys and the
lagoons into which they flow offered ideal conditions for the development o f
malarial marshes. On the interfluves, silts, conglomerates and especially soft
calcareous sandstones (tufi) are widely represented; these last produce a porous,
floury soil while the conglomerates provide a concretionary, less easily workable
surface. In the lower areas the water table is very near the surface and the soils,
rich in humus, may be classed as black Mediterranean soils (tirs). Although in
classical times the coast and the upper margins o f the Tavoliere were colonized
(there is evidence o f centuriation, and Lucera and Sipontum were sizeable
Roman towns), until recently M an’s efforts to settle and exploit the area systematically
have always been frustrated by hydrological disorders and malaria. In
the Middle Ages it became the preserve o f powerful pastoral elements whose
privileges were later confirmed by the Aragonese; the network o f tratturi was
extended, defined and protected, and over large areas tillage was restricted by
law. Despite the establishment o f a few small colonies by the Bourbons at the end
of the eighteenth centiuy (Orta, Ordona, Carapelle, Stornara) and the liberal
legislation introduced during the French interlude, no fimdamental change took
place in the character o f the Tavohere till the i86os. With the arrival o f the
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