Volturara Appula
Welcome to Volturara Appula!
Hello friends! Today I want to talk to you about Volturara Appula, an Italian municipality in the province of Foggia, in Puglia. The city is inhabited by 378 people and is situated on a hill in the Daunian mountains, in the north-west region of Puglia, near the border with Campania and Molise. Volturara is famous for its sulphur springs and wooded areas, making it an ideal place for nature lovers.
The origin of the name
The name Volturara Appula could derive from the Latin word "vultur", which means vulture, with the suffix "-ara" indicating a collective name. The meaning of the name would therefore be "city (or area) of vultures". The adjective "appula" indicates belonging to Apulia, the old name of the central-northern part of present-day Puglia, and was officially added by the decree of Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy on October 26, 1862.
The history of Volturara Appula
Volturara was a diocese for many centuries, and as such had the title of "city". The exact date of its foundation is not known, but it is mentioned with the name "Vulturaria", among the suffragans of Benevento, in a letter of 969 by Pope John XIII. Among its bishops, Alessandro Geraldini, the first bishop of the New World, is remembered, buried in the cathedral of Our Lady of the Incarnation (Santo Domingo), where he died in 1525.
In the Catalogus Baronum of the Norman conquest of southern Italy, it appears among the fiefs owned by Count Filippo of Civitate, and following the Angevin conquest, half of the fief, which had become the possession of the bishop, was granted to the knight Ugone de Sully (de Suliaco).
In the ''Rationes decimarum Italiae, Apulia, Lucania, Calabria'' (Vatican City, 1939), a ''Monastery of S. Pietro in Parietibus'' is mentioned, for the tithes paid from 1310 to 1328, of which no further news is available.
The Volturara Appula of today
The city of Volturara Appula has a very interesting cultural and historical heritage, with the cathedral of Our Lady of the Incarnation and the castle of San Paolo above the Aterno-Pescara river. Every year, on February 2, the Feast of the Madonna dell'Incoronata is celebrated, with a solemn procession that crosses the streets of the city.
Volturara is also an ideal place for nature lovers, with its sulphur springs, the regional park of the Daunian mountains and the Bosco Quarto dei Cervi, a nature reserve where deer live. The city also offers many opportunities for mountain hiking, trekking, horseback riding and mountain biking.
Conclusions
In short, Volturara Appula is a city with a very interesting cultural and historical heritage to visit, which also offers many opportunities to enjoy unspoiled nature. So, if you want to spend a holiday in the heart of Puglia, Volturara Appula is definitely a place to consider. We're waiting for you in our city!
