Theme Week Apulia – Martina Franca

25 December 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Piazza Plebiscito and the Cathedral © Tango71747cc-by-sa-4.0

Piazza Plebiscito and the Cathedral © Tango71747cc-by-sa-4.0

Martina Franca, or just Martina, is a town and municipality in the province of Taranto, Apulia. It is the second most populated town of the province after Taranto, and has a population of 49,000. Since 1975, the town has hosted the annual summer opera festival, the Festival della Valle d’Itria. Martina Franca is located in the Itria Valley, close to the provinces of Bari and Brindisi.   read more…

Theme Week Apulia

23 December 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  7 minutes

Quartieri Settecenteschi in Foggia © panoramio.com - trolvag/cc-by-sa-3.0

Quartieri Settecenteschi in Foggia © panoramio.com – trolvag/cc-by-sa-3.0

Apulia is a region of Italy, located in the southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Otranto and Gulf of Taranto to the south. The region comprises 19,345 square kilometers (7,469 sq mi), and its population is about four million. It is bordered by the other Italian regions of Molise to the north, Campania to the west, and Basilicata to the southwest. Its capital city is Bari. Apulia’s coastline is longer than that of any other mainland Italian region. In the north, the Gargano promontory extends out into the Adriatic like a ‘sperone’ (“spur”), while in the south, the Salento peninsula forms the ‘tacco’ (“heel”) of Italy’s boot. The highest peak in the region is Mount Cornacchia (1,152 meters above sea level) within the Daunian Mountains, in the north along the Apennines. It is home to two national parks, the Alta Murgia National Park and Gargano National Park. Outside of national parks in the North and West, most of Apulia and particularly Salento is geographically flat with only moderate hills.   read more…

Augusta on Sicily

30 March 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Baia Arcile © Angelo Pappalardo/cc-by-sa-3.0

Baia Arcile © Angelo Pappalardo/cc-by-sa-3.0

Augusta is a town and comune in the province of Syracuse, located on the eastern coast of Sicily. The city is one of the main harbours in Italy, especially for oil refineries (ExxonMobil and others as part of the complex Augusta-Priolo) which are in its vicinity. The city is situated 35 km north of Syracuse and faces the Ionian Sea.   read more…

Riace in Calabria

23 July 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

Riace © Marcuscalabresus/cc-by-3.0

Riace © Marcuscalabresus/cc-by-3.0

Riace is a municipality in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 50 km south of Catanzaro and about 80 km northeast of Reggio Calabria. Riace borders the municipalities of Camini and Stignano.   read more…

The island of Lefkada in the Ionian Sea

27 February 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Lefkada © ERWEH/cc-by-sa-2.0-de

Lefkada © ERWEH/cc-by-sa-2.0-de

Lefkada is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Greece, connected to the mainland by a long causeway and floating bridge. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Lefkada (city). It is situated on the northern part of the island, approximately 20 minutes by automobile away from Aktion National Airport. The island is part of the regional unit of Lefkada.   read more…

The Albanian Riviera

12 November 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  6 minutes

Beach at the village of Dhërmi © Dori/cc-by-2.5

Beach at the village of Dhërmi © Dori/cc-by-2.5

Albanian Riviera is a coastal area in the County of Vlorë running along the Ionian Sea under the Ceraunian Mountains in Southern Albania. It should not be confused with the Albanian coastline as a whole which includes both the Riviera and the mostly flat coastline of central and north Albania. Traditionally, the region begins south of Llogara National Park, continues down along the coast through the villages of Borsh, Himara, Qeparo, Piqeras, and ends at Lukovë. The Albanian Riviera was proclaimed as the 2012 Top Value Destination by Frommer’s.   read more…

Parga on the Greek west coast

5 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

View of Parga with the Panagia Island © Sakis Kostaris/cc-by-sa-3.0

View of Parga with the Panagia Island © Sakis Kostaris/cc-by-sa-3.0

Parga is a town and municipality located in the northwestern part of the regional unit of Preveza in Epirus, northwestern Greece, with 12,000 inhabitants. The seat of the municipality is the village Kanallaki. Parga lies on the Ionian coast between the cities of Preveza and Igoumenitsa. It is a resort town known for its scenic beauty. The present municipality Parga was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities of Parga and Fanari. Parga is at a distance of 65 km from the Aktion National Airport and during the summer months connected with the surrounding islands (PaxosAntipaxosCorfu).   read more…

The Greek island of Corfu

6 September 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  9 minutes

Corfu City citadel © Stefanos Kozanis

Corfu City citadel © Stefanos Kozanis

Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands. The island is part of the Corfu peripheral unit, and is administrated as a single municipality. The municipality includes the island Corfu and the smaller islands Ereikoussa, Mathraki and Othonoi. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality (pop. 33,886) is also named Corfu. Corfu is home to the Ionian University. The island is connected to the history of Greece from the beginning of Greek mythology. Its Greek name, Kerkyra or Korkyra, is related to two powerful water symbols: Poseidon, god of the sea, and Asopos, an important Greek mainland river. According to myth, Poseidon fell in love with the beautiful nymph Korkyra, daughter of Asopus and river nymph Metope, and abducted her. Poseidon brought Korkyra to the hitherto unnamed island and, in marital bliss, offered her name to the place: Korkyra, which gradually evolved to Kerkyra (Doric). Together, they had a child they called Phaiax, after whom the inhabitants of the island were named: Phaiakes. This term was transliterated via Latin to Phaeacians.   read more…

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