LECCE - OTRANTO - MESAGNE

If you are interested in doing an Italian language course in Apulia, we are glad to help you in your decision by giving you some useful information.

WHERE IS IT?

Puglia is the most easterly region of Italy and is situated in the South of the country. It is washed by two seas, by the Adriatic Sea and by the Ionian Sea to the North-East. The neighbouring countries are: Molise and Campania to the West, Basilicata to the South-West. Puglia’s most southern area is the famous “boot’s heel” (boot=stivale,which means Italy).

WHAT IS THIS TERRITORY LIKE?

Puglia’s territory is constituted by flat country (54%), by hills (44%) and by mountains (only 1,5%).
The highest peak, Mount Cornacchia (1152 mt), is in the North-West of the region. There are only a few rivers, which are concentrated above all in the northern area, but they are lacking in water. The most important river is the Ofanto. Near the Gargano Park there are the two largest coastal lakes in Italy: Lake Varano and Lake Lesina. Then the Tremiti Isles are part of this region, too.

HOW CAN YOU REACH IT ?

If you want to arrive in Puglia from the North, it is possible to take the motorway A14 that connects Milan to Bari, the regional capital.
If you arrive from the South you have to drive along the A16, that connects Rome to Bari.
If you are flying, your reference are the Bari-Palese airport and the Brindisi-Papola airport.
You can also reach Puglia by train, thanks to the railway network that connects it to the various Italian towns. Moreover, you can use the Roma-Caserta-Benevento-Bari line, from Rome or instead, from Milan, the Milano-Bologna-Ancona-Pescara-Bari line.
If you want to travel by boat, there are three principal connection ports in Bari, Brindisi and Taranto.

WHAT DOES THE REGION OFFER ?

Puglia has always been a meeting place for the Western and the Southern peoples. It is a sunny land, with a wonderful nature that offers some magic landscapes, as the ones in the Gargano Park, in province of Foggia.
Puglia’s archeological sites and its artistic heritage make us get closer to the history of the peoples who had lived here. So you can find the evidence of the rupestrian and rural civilization and the magnificent Romanesque and Baroque monuments.
Anyway the most characteristic and original witness of this land’s past are the Alberobello Trulli, in province of Bari. This “monument town”, which had been the home of the rural community since ancient times, has been recognized by Unesco as mankind’s property.