ITALY
222
ITALY
sapians, the Japygians, who were never of a wariike
disposition. In ancient times, as at present, Apuha was
the station between the East and the West; it was in
the possession of the Greeks until the tenth century,
when the Normans conquered it and estal^lished there
the countship of Apulia, their first possession. This
region has a mild climate and is essentially an agricul-
tural country, wonderfully fertile in some parts; it
has the disadvantage of lacking a sufficiency of water,
but this defect is being remedied by the construction
of a great aqueduct that will bring the waters of the
Sele to this section. Its chief products are wines, oil,
grain, almonds, and figs. Manufacturing industries
are as yet little developed. Its principal towns are
Foggia (pop. 53,000), the capital, on the right bank
of the Celone River, in the heart of the Tavoliere; it is
a railroad centre and a grain and wool market; it con-
tains the notable ruins of the palace of Frederick II;
Lucera (pop. 17,000), an ancient city upon a height,
destroyed in the seventh century and rebuilt by Fred-
erick II, who took to it Saracens from Sicily; Slanfre-
donia (pop. 12,000) was founded by King Manfred,
near the ruins of Sipontum; Monte Sant' Angelo, at
the foot of Ciargano, contains the famous sanctuary
of St. Michael the Archangel; Cerignola (pop. 3.3,000),
famous for the victory of the Spaniards over the
French in 1.503; Barletta (pop. 42,000), a former for-
tress, on the coast; here occurred the challenge of Bar-
letta on 16 May, 1503; and in its neighbourhood was
('anuEB, where Hannibal destroyed the Roman army;
Trani, a port that was famous during the Crusades;
Bari (pop. 78,000), a commercial port, containing the
famous sanctuary of St. Nicholas. In the interior is
Canosa (pop. 24,000), the ancient Canusium, not far
from the position on the Ofanto River where the Ro-
mans found refuge after the defeat of Cannse; it con-
tains ancient tombs and also thi^t of Bohemimd the
crusader; Altamura, on the Murgie Mountains, was
the birth-place of the musician Mercadante. Terra
d'Otranto, which comprises nearly the entire Salentine
peninsula, was called the Tuscany of Southern Italy.
Its four important seaports, Brindisi, Otranto, Ta-
ranto, and Gallipoli are situated respectively at the
angles of a quadrangle, in the interior of which is
Lecce, the capital. Brindisi (pop. 25,000), which is
built on two inlets in the shape of horns, was in the
time of the Romans a most important commercial and
naval port, where the Appian, the Trajan, anc_l the
Tarentine Ways terminated. It was neglected in the
Middle Ages, but in our days it has returned to new
life and has become a station of communication with
India. Otranto is famous for its sack by the Turks in
1480. Gallipoli (pop. 14,000) does a considerable com-
merce in oil and in wines. Taranto (pop. 61,000), the
ancient Tarentura, is on the canal that unites the Mare
Grande and the Mare Piccolo; it was founded by the
Spartans, and through the fall of Sibari, became the
strongest and richest town of Magna Gra;cia, but de-
cayed after its defeat by the Romans; now it is one of
the three principal points of naval defence and sup-
plies of the Kingdom of Italy, the other two being
Spezia and the Maddalena. Lecce (pop. 32,000)
stands at a distance of less than a mile from the sea in
a fertile plain, where tobacco is cultivated.
The Basilicata forms a single province called Poten- za, after the name of its chief town. It is bounded by the valley between the Murgie and the Apennines, the Ofanto River, the group of Mt. Santa Croce, the Mad- dalena Mountains, the Pollino group, and the Ionian Sea. It has the shape of a horseshoe, with its calks on the Ionian Sea. Originally the Basilicata must have been a high plain, like that of Sila, but having been deeply ploughed by the waters, it became a rough and disjointed country, in which communication is very difficult. Its coasts are infected by malaria, on ac- count of the awamps formed liy the rivers and of neg- lect; and yet on these now deserted coasts there
flourished Metapontum and Eraclea, cities of Magna
Graicia. Besides its dense forests, the mode of life of
its inhabitants, separated as they are from the rest of
the country on account of the difficulty of communica-
tions, contributes to keep this region in a condition in-
ferior to that of the other parts of the kingdom. The
climate varies with the altitudes, and is also subject to
sudden changes. Agriculture and herding are the
principal occupations of its people, among whom in-
dustries and commerce are not developed. In view of
the fact that the country is divided into vast estates,
the peasants are very poor, and they emigrate, so that
the census of 1901 showed a great falling off in the
population. Potenza (pop. 16,000), the chief town,
built at a height of 2700 feet above the sea, near the
source of the Basento River, is relatively a modern
city, because the ancient one, which was on the
plain, at the place called La Murata, was destroyed by
Frederick II and by Charles of .^njou. Melfi (pop.
15,000), on the slopes of Mt. Vulture, was the capital
of the Normans and a stronghold of Robert Guiscard.
Venosa was the home of Horace; Matera (pop. 17,000)
has a splendid site.
Calabria comprises the provinces of Catanzaro or Calabria Ulteriore II, Cosenza or Calabria Citeriore, Reggio Calabria or Calabria Ulteriore I. Calabria in- cludes the extreme western limit of the Italian penin- sula and is connected with the rest of Italy by the Pol- lino group, which is its northern boundary; on all other sides it is bounded by the sea. A considerable narrowing between the Gulfs of Santa Eufemia and Squillace divides Calabria into its northern and south- ern parts. In ancient times it was called Bruzio, and on its Ionian coast stood the luxurious Sibari and the powerful Cotrone, with other famous cities of Magna Grajcia. In the Middle Ages the pirates infested the coasts, whose inhabitants were driven to the moun- tains and abandoned the care of the waters so that tho coasts became swampy; this is the reason why Cala- bria does not furnish a maritime population in propor- tion to the development of its coasts. Calabria is the land of all Europe that is most desolated by earth- quakes. Its climate varies, according to altitude, be- tween a southern climate on the Ionian coast and an Alpine one on the heights. It is an agricultural country of which the principal products are grain, oil, wines, figs, and especially bergamot, for the extrac- tion of its essence. The extensive forests of Sila pro- duce timber; there is some grazing of cattle, but the prevalence of vast lantied estates keeps the labourers in poverty, and they emigrate to countries beyond the sea. Beginning at the north, the principal cities are Cosenza (pop. 21,000), capital of the Bruttians, on the Crati River, at its confluence with the Basento, in the bed of which, according to tradition, Alaric was buried with his treasures. On the moimtain sides there arc distributed sixteen Albanian towns, of which Spezzano is the most important. Corigliano (pop. 13,000) has a beautiful castle. San Giovanni in Fiore (pop. 13,000), on the Sila, was so called on account of a famous abbey that it contains; here, in 1844, the brothers Bandiera, who landed at the mouth of the Neto River to bring about an insurrection in C'alabria, were defeated and taken prisoners. Castrovillari (pop. 10,000) is an an- cient city on the .slope of the Pollino, and Paola on the Tyrrhenian coast, the birth-place of St .Francis of Paola, the founder of the Order of Minims (1416-1507), con- tains a very famous sanctuary. Catanzaro (pop. 32,- 000) is built upon a height above the valley of Mar- cellinara. Squillace, on the gulf of the same name, was the birth-place of Cassiodorus, a civil officer of Theodoric. Cotrone, on the site of the victorious rival of Sibari. and seat of the Pythagorean school, is now only a small port. At Pizzo, on the Gulf of Santa Eufemia, Joachim Murat, once King of Naples, was shot 17 October, 1815. Nicastro (pop. 18,000) has a population of Albanian origin. Filadelfia was founded
