DISCOVER APULIA

Poggiorsini is a small town in the province of Bari. It has about 1,500 inhabitants and it is situated on a small hill on the North-Western Murgia, 461 meters above sea level. It is the part of the Alta Murgia National Park. .The town is surrounded by a vast land mainly cultivated with cereals.

The inhabitants of Poggiorsini live a simple life, thanks to healthy agricultural products and a favourable climate. In Poggiorsini there are many restaurants offering traditional meals at reasonable prices, and several local butchers where excellent local meat can be found anytime. Many people from neighbouring towns come in Poggiorsini to stock up on meat and sausages and to taste local food. Another famous and widely used product is the cardoncello mushroom, a local kind of mushroom that grows abundantly in this area.

The best place to taste these typical mushrooms is the restaurant “Al Poggio”, where Girolamo, or as the locals call him "Giommin" will cook the cardoncello mushrooms in many different ways. Another typical dish is “la pecora alla rizzola”, a kind of veggie and sheep meat stew, that can be tasted at the restaurant “Borgo Antico”.
After enjoying a traditional lunch and after buying local products, you should take a stroll and visit the old town until the “Belvedere”, the panoramic viewpoint where it is possible to admire the breathtaking landscape. From here, many towns of the near Basilicata can be seen, as well as thousands of hectares of land, with different colours according to the season. It is also possible to see the Basentello Dam, which is located about 7 km from Poggiorsini at the border with the Basilicata region.  In the dam it is possible to fish surrounded by a wild nature; windsurfing and kite surfing are also very popular. Some researchers also have shown the presence of thermal draught which facilitates flying; in fact in the area it is possible to view, alongside the birds, some hang gliders.

The climate is mild throughout the year, making Poggiorsini an ideal place to live. In the town there are no traffic lights and no parking issues, thus making it a perfect place for children to grow in.

Poggiorsini is surrounded by many farmhouses (masserie) and country houses. One of the most famous in Apulia, at about 5 km away from Poggiorsini, is Masseria Protomastro and Agriturismo Cardinale (farm holiday).
Another feature of the town is the natural mineral water source "Orsinella" (named after the town), that flows naturally from an aquifer 600 meters deep.

The first name of the town was Monte Folicato, and then replaced by Macchia Vetrana and finally became Poggiorsini. The latter name was given by the Orsini family.

The coat of arms features on a blue background and a green hill, two brown bears, facing each other with raised hind legs, holding a wheat sheaf with the forelegs.

Local inhabitants are referred to as poggiorsinesi.

HISTORY
Archaeological finds in the area of Grottellini and Castel Garagnone testified that...

the territory was populated since the Stone Age, also thanks to the existence of water sources still existing in the vicinity, such as Ogna fountain, Latrigna fountain and the streams of Capo d'Acqua and Roviniero.
The first settlements were born thanks to its strategic location, almost halfway between Silvium (Gravina in Puglia) and Ad Pinum (Spinazzola) along the ancient cattle tracks route also closed to the Via Appia and via di Cipro. Another element that favoured the settlement was the presence of natural cavities such as the Rupestrian rocky settlement Grottellini, which is located west of Poggiorsini, near the border of the Via Appia, opposite the Garagnone stronghold. Little is known about this important archaeological site, which is probably related to other neighbouring sites. Some archaeological finds testify the existence of scattered settlements along the Via Appia since the IV century BC. The strategic area surrounding Poggiorsini was an important crossroads, at least until the construction of the Via Traiana, for the people that had to cross the southern Apennines heading towards the Ionian and Adriatic seas.
It was a stopover on the Via Appia and a cattle-track between Melfi-Castellaneta. Its first inhabitants were hunters, breeders and farmers.
In the Middle Ages, the territory was part of the estate of Castel Garagnone and belonged to the Altavilla family until 1190; after that it was taken from Count Roger I of Sicily. In 1197 it was donated to the Knights of Malta by the Priory of Barletta. Part of its territory belonged to the Knights Templar, to ecclesiastical institutions and to wealthy Gravinian families.
A document from the Norman period, dating back to 1197, refers to the place name Mons Folicatus which is the first written testimony of the existence of a country that was already annexed to Feudo Garagnone, granted by Henry VI to friar Diligio, a prior of the Order of Knights of Barletta. The name "fogliame" (pile of leaves) indicates the existence of rich natural vegetation on the hills surrounding Poggiorsini. The area lends itself to be used mainly by shepherds where they could find the suitable grazing land for their herds. The land was also a refuge for nearby settlements from reprisals.
In the same document it is mentioned the place name Curtem Templi (Grottellini), an estate which almost certainly belonged to the Templars until they were suppressed in 1308.
The territorial reorganization imposed by the Normans, led to the construction of castles, such as the garrison of Monte Serico and Garagnone Castle, which stands on a rock dominating the traffic along the Via Appia. In the same period a legend was born, relating to Ogna Fountain, located near the current railway station at Poggiorsini. According to the legend, Roland’s horse (the French paladin) scraped with his hoof the soil, thus founding the source of the fountain. The legend also tells of how Roland, in a fit of madness, severed with his sword a karst rock on...

the Murgia hill.
In 1273 the territories if Monte Folicato, Grottelini and Montegrosso were part of the fief of Gravina. The name place Monte Folicato was replaced by Macchia Vetrana (Macula Veterana), which indicated the existence of wild woods, as it was stated in a document dated 1609, in which the estate was given to the Orsini family. Before that date the territory of Poggiorsini, especially the one belonging to the fief of Garagnone, was the focus of ongoing disputes between feudal lords and the Universitas of Gravina and Altamura. In the XVI century, the area of Macchia Vetrana was inhabited by several families and by the Augustinian and Franciscan friars.
From 1609 the area became property of the Orsini family, Dukes of Gravina, which owned it until 1910. The Orsini transformed the rural settlement in an urban centre with the name of Poggio degli Orsini. They improved economic activities related to agriculture and sheep farming, using the existing rural structures in the area. In 1810, with the end of feudalism, the territory of Poggiorsini became frazione (hamlet) of Gravina. Finally in 1957, Poggiorsini gained the administrative autonomy.

MONUMENTS AND SIGHTS OF INTEREST
• Garagnone Castle
• Old town
• Il Belvedere (panoramic viewpoint)
• La Chiesa Vecchia (Church)
• U’ Crtur
• Maria Santissima Addolorata’s Church
• The amphitheatre
• Basentello Dam
• Fonte Orsinella establishment