History of Mattinata, the town where sun rises

The history of the Apulian town Mattinata is very fascinating. Mattinata is characterized by white houses, typical of southern Italy. Wonderful and crystalline sea, a vast expanse of olive groves, a long pebble beach and much more. The village is located near the southern coast of the Gargano, between Monte Saraceno and Monte Sacro, where you can admire the most beautiful sunrise of this stretch of the Apulian coast. From here you can already easily guess the origin of its name.

How to get to Mattinata

If you travel by car:

• From the north. Take A14 Adriatic motorway (Bologna-Taranto). Exit at Foggia and take the SS 89 Manfredonia\S.Giovanni Rotondo\Gargano and enter the SS 673 Dir/SS89. Continue for 50km on the 89 Garganica/SS89 road and continue towards Mattinata/Litoranea.
• From the center and the south. Take the Foggia or Candela exit. Take the SS 89 Manfredonia/S.Giovanni Rotondo/Gargano road and take the SS 673 Dir/SS89. Continue for 50km on the 89 Garganica/SS89 road and continue towards Mattinata/Litoranea.

For those traveling by train. You will have to get off at Foggia station and then take a bus of the Ferrovie del Gargano or SITA sud for Mattinata, If you choose to travel by plane. You will have to get off at Bari airport and take the Pugliairbus bus for Mattinata or a train for Foggia and then move with the line connections of the Ferrovie del Gargano or SITA bus.

The history of the name “Mattinata”

The Greeks were the first population to settle in Mattinata and were part of the Daunia tribe. It was they who called Mattinata “Apeneste” which literally means “nascent” or “spring”. In fact, Mattinata faces EAST and this geographical position makes it “the town where the sun rises”. Nearby there is also the Dauna necropolis which dates back to more than 2500 years ago, stands on Monte Saraceno and is one of the largest built on the Gargano. It preserves about 500 tombs dug into the stone from which some funeral gifts such as stems and shields have been found which are now exhibited in the town’s Civic Museum.

The influence of the Romans

The history of Mattinata does not end here! In fact, over the centuries, after the victory of the Romans against Pyrrhus in 275 BC, the village was Romanised and called “Matinatum” in honor of Mater Matuta, the goddess who protected women, especially pregnant women. The reason lies in the fact that according to the Roman tradition it was common to associate the birth of man with the rise of light.

History of Mattinata: Saracens conquest

Subsequently, in the 9th-10th century, the city of Mattinata was occupied by the Saracens, groups of Arabs from Northern Africa who settled on Monte Saraceno, hence the name. The Saracens defeated several times by different populations, in 967 they took refuge in Bari, but the emperor Otto I drove them away and returned to the Gargano devastating the places and making massacres, so the inhabitants again asked for help from the Emperor who defeated them definitively. From here on, all traces of the history of Mattinata have been lost but it is believed that it was destroyed by some natural phenomenon, a tidal wave or an earthquake. The beginnings of the current inhabited center date back to 1780, when the first houses began to rise on the Castelluccio hill. This small town offers its visitors historical events and wonderful natural landscapes that determine its beauty. Were you intrigued by the history that this village contains? You just have to visit it! Read also: The most beautiful beaches of Mattinata