culture The origin of the town Canosa di Puglia goes back to the 7th century b. C., during the Daunian settlement. Its importance rose during the Roman and early Christian period through it developing trade with the capital. Evidence of this flourishing period becomes visible in the many finds of the archeological sites, the hypogea, the churches, the domus, the ancient water works and the via Traiana, the ancient Roman road. With the decay of the Roman Empire, the town was sacked and destroyed. Traces of its glorious past were covered for centuries under the town stratification of the following periods. Starting from the 19th century onwards, some finds made it possible to bring to the light some archeological remains of national value.

food and wine Typical dishes of Canosa make use of a special type of wheat, the “grano arso”, i.e. burned wheat (a bit darker) to prepare orecchiette, bread, focaccia and all other dishes of rural tradition. As a matter of fact, this type of wheat was the original food for poor farmers. After the harvest season the landowners burned the fields and the farmers collected what was left. Besides the wheat we have to mention the DOC Rosso Canosa wine made of Uva di Troia (also named vine of Canosa) grapes.



EVENTS-ENTERTAINMENT A very interesting event is the living nativity, a performance on its 4th edition. It takes place in the surroundings of the evocative archeological site, inside the natural calc-tufa cavities and grottoes to recreate the atmosphere of a small Palestinian village. You should not miss the Rites of the Holy Week, especially the procession of the Desolata. Some children dressed like angles go ahead of the statue, while a choir of 250 girls dressed in black, with face-covering black veils follow it. Some of them are barefoot and scream with an agonizing voice during the whole rite.