From Wednesday 12 June to Sunday 16 June “Italea Puglia meets… the Gargano” is scheduled, five days of activities, events open to the public, institutional meetings, educational tours promoted in the Gargano area by Italea Puglia, part of the territorial network of the project “Italea” of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation as part of the PNRR “Roots Tourism” program. The mission of Italea Puglia is to build a tourist and cultural offer eminently dedicated to Italians and Italian descendants abroad, in particular to those with Apulian origins. The tour in the Gargano aims to tell about this fascinating land, custodian of still authentic traditions, to the Apulians and Italians in the world, inviting them to make their own “roots journey” in Puglia, and at the same time contribute to creating new bridges between local communities and those who have emigrated abroad, and network to recover values and knowledge of the past as tools for staying in the present, overturning the imagination on the places where the need to leave once arose.
Experiences and meetings with emigrants: appointments in the Gargano
There are three public events scheduled during the five days of Italea Puglia in the Gargano, including an in-depth round table on the themes of emigration and roots and two events within the traveling festival “Italea Puglia: the Festival of Apulian roots ” launched on the occasion of the “2024 Year of Italian Roots” promoted by Maeci. Thursday 13 June from 4.30pm an afternoon in close contact with the sea and the most ancient traditions of fishermen, with “Italea Puglia: the Festival of Apulian roots. The stories of the trabucchi”, event organized by Italea Puglia in collaboration with the association The rebirth of historical trabucchi (free participation with membership card – contribution 5 euros; info and registration [email protected] / whatsapp +39 388 658 2298; places limited, max. 20 participants).
“The stories of the trabucchi” is a small community celebration, punctuated by a walk along the coast and a fishing experience on a typical structure of the Gargano seafaring tradition. The appointment is at 4.30 pm from the Scialmarino beach, from which a trek along the coast lasting an hour and a half will begin, up to Trabucco Molinella. Here starting from 6pm, led by Matteo Silvestri of the association La rebirth of historical trabucchi, participants will see the old trabuccolanti at work, listening to the stories of an ancient profession in this part of Puglia, and those of those who had to abandon these coasts in search of more favorable winds, among those who later returned and those who continued to dream of their sea from afar. Participants will also be able to test their skills guided by the old and young trabuccolanti, from the top of these monumental wooden architectures overlooking the Adriatic Sea. The experience ends with a convivial aperitif on the trabucco.
The trabucchi, which mark the coast between Vieste and Peschici – in the heart of the Gargano National Park – are rudimentary tools built by local fishermen to ensure a livelihood by avoiding exposing themselves to the thousand dangers of the sea, from storms to pirate incursions, which for a very long time For a long time they have been the bugaboos of these small villages. In fact, the trebuchets stand on the edge of the coast, extending into the sea with two enormous arms (the “antennas”) to which a net is attached which exploits the sea currents to catch the fish. Their solid grandeur unites the sea and the land of the northernmost strip of Puglia: in the trunks and Aleppo pine beams that make up these structures the thousand-year history of the Umbra Forest is preserved, which extends almost to the sea.
The second public event of the tour in the Gargano is scheduled for Friday 14 June, the round table “Tourism of roots: San Marco in Lamis and the communities of the Gargano in the world” at the Pasquale ed Angelo Soccio Foundation (piazza Carlo Marx 1) in San Marco in Lamis, promoted by in collaboration with the Soccio Foundation, the Association of Friends of Joseph Tusiani – Centro Studi J. Tusiani, the Il Sentiero dell’anima association, the Pugliese Federation of Australia, the Apulian Youth Association of Australia, San Marco in Lamis Social Club Melbourne and with the patronage of the Municipal Administration of San Marco in Lamis.
For the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first people from San Marino in Australia, Italea Puglia promotes an afternoon of cross-sectional study on the migratory phenomenon from the Gargano, and at the same time on the identity values, traditions and illustrious personalities of these lands. The meeting will be preceded by a collective visit to the monument The departure of the artist Filippo Pirro, dedicated to Apulian emigrants (appointment at 5.30 pm in Piazza Europa).
The artist’s daughters will be present at the meeting, who with the association Il Sentiero dell’Anima in the valorization of his work, who will talk about the crowdfunding launched to support the recovery project of the “Country”, the most fragile part of the work made of bronze and terracotta. During the round table at the Soccio Foundation we will talk about roots tourism and the national program launched by the MAECI, as a vehicle for promoting the region abroad and a renewed bond between the Apulian communities from all over the world. We will also talk about the roots of the Gargano and the authoritative personalities of these lands, such as Joseph Tusiani, an important voice of twentieth-century poetry and literature in the United States, born in San Marco in Lamis in 1924.
Below is the program. After the greetings of the mayor of the Municipality of San Marco in Lamis Michele Merla and the president of the Soccio Foundation Claudio Lecci, the meeting will be introduced by the presentation of Italea Puglia, edited by Rita Piccinni, Giorgia Salicandro, Sara Colonna, Giovanni Pugliese: “The project Italea Puglia: a new page of roots tourism in Puglia”.
In-depth interventions will follow: Grazia Galante, researcher: “The San Marino community of Melbourne between conservation and modernity”; Laura Pirro, Il Sentiero dell’Anima association: “The crowdfunding project for the work “La Partenza” by Filippo Pirro”; Sergio D’Amaro, director of the Tusiani Study Center: “Joseph Tusiani and the question of blacks in America”; Angelo Ciavarella, Soccio Foundation: “Buffalo-San Marco in Lamis round trip: story of a rediscovered mandolin”; Roberto Caroppi, Apulian Youth Association of Australia: “A bridge between old and new generations of Italians abroad”. The evening will close with the screening of a video greeting from the San Marino communities of Melbourne.
The last public event of the tour in the Gargano of Italea Puglia stops in San Giovanni Rotondo.
The appointment is Saturday 15 June starting at 4pm with “Italea Puglia: the Festival of Apulian roots. Sung walk along the Via Francigena”, an afternoon dedicated to the stories of wayfarers and pilgrims of an area traditionally dedicated to spirituality, in which, alongside the contemporary cult of San Pio, the testimonies of the Via Francigena survive, the ancient European itinerary that once led to the Holy Land. The event is organized in collaboration with the associations SGR Francigena and Cala la Sera (free participation with membership card – contribution 5 euros; info and registration [email protected] / whatsapp +39 349 341 2604; limited places, max. 25 participants ).
We start at 4pm with the participants meeting in Piazza dei Martiri in San Giovanni Rotondo for a visit to the “Michele Capuano” Museum of popular art and traditions, which collects evocative testimonies of the arts and crafts of the town and the Gargano area . Afterwards, a 3 kilometer trek led by Domenico Antonacci, tourist guide and president of the SGR Francigena association, will lead the participants along a stretch of the ancient road, among the routes of travelers and pilgrims, shepherds and woodcutters who by faith or for necessity crossed these lands, these woods, among convents, caves, stalls and stations which served as rest, protection and meditation for the body and soul. The experience, specially designed by Italea Puglia, includes a “sung walk” with Pio Gravina, musician and researcher of the Gargano musical traditions of the Cala la Sera association, who will punctuate the itinerary with the rhythm of the beating guitar and ancient songs, custodians of stories of families and communities, work, overseas departures. The route will stop at the Convent of Sant’Egidio, an ancient pilgrims’ hospital, where participants will be able to share a convivial aperitif. The last stop of the day, scheduled for 7pm, is in front of the Museum where singers and musicians from the town will offer a musical farewell to the group.
The other events of the tour
During the five days in the Gargano, Italea Puglia will also stop at places of strategic importance for Apulian tourism and culture, artisan workshops and events with a strong symbolic meaning. Among these, Monte Sant’Angelo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the Basilica of San Michele and Capital of Culture of Puglia 2024, Vieste for the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua, San Nicandro Garganico at the artistic-environmental park “Il Sentiero dell’Anima ”, San Giovanni Rotondo, at the Sanctuary of San Pio and the violin making workshop of Cala la Sera.
Italy Puglia
ITALEA PUGLIA is part of the territorial network of the “Italea” project of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, as part of the “Roots Tourism” program supported by the PNRR. The Italea Puglia project is created by the Radici di Puglia Aps association, the winner of the MAECI’s “Root Tourism” call for ideas. As part of the national project, the mission of Italea Puglia is to attract and welcome to the Heel of Italy Apulians and Apulian Italian-descendants abroad who intend to discover the places and traditions of their origins, creating services, activities and events dedicated. The objective of Italea Puglia is therefore to network and valorise the most dynamic realities active in the area, both for the creation of a tourist offer expressly dedicated to traditional travellers, and with a view to valorising the bond between local communities and foreign communities. The “itineraries of migrant memory” created by Italea Puglia therefore include – in addition to the most representative elements of the Apulian historical-cultural heritage – the villages, the museums of traditions, the eco-museums and other places of memory dedicated in particular to the history of emigration and social history, the places of origin of the world-famous Apulians, events linked to tradition such as patronal festivals, and other proposals of interest to the chosen target.
The “roots laboratories” of Italea Puglia enclose the knowledge of the origins through engaging activities, such as visits to the artisan workshops custodians of ancient crafts, cooking classes to prepare dishes from the past, courses in Italian culture and language, local dialects and traditions, oral tradition music, singing and dance workshops, and much more.
Italea Puglia therefore aims to enhance the hinterland, to reduce the seasonality of flows and to diversify the target by age, origin and interests: the new image of Puglia, in the coming years, will hopefully also pass from the places where the need once originated to leave and where today dynamic realities that network recover values and knowledge of the past as tools to stay in the present and project themselves into the future. In 2024 in Puglia there is “Italea Puglia: the festival of Apulian roots”, a traveling festival – as part of the “2024 Year of Italian roots” promoted by Maeci – which aims to create a network of events including festivals patronal events, cinema and music festivals, photographic exhibitions and other cultural events of interest to traditional travellers. As part of these events, activities, performance events and in-depth talks on the themes of the cultural identity of Apulian communities and the history of migration will be co-planned with ITALEA PUGLIA, also with the involvement of Apulian communities abroad. (red – 7 June)
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