Happy TravellerWelcome to Ruvo di Puglia, a city that has risen from the ashes of its past to become one of the major art cities and tourist milestones in Apulia, Italy. Located in the Metropolitan City of Bari, Ruvo di Puglia is part of the Alta Murgia national park, which houses an operational office. The city is also home to the Jatta national archaeological museum, which has increased the fame of the city thanks to the thousands of archaeological finds of the Hellenistic age preserved there. The vase of Talos, a valuable piece of the collection, has become a community symbol. The city is also heir to the Municipal Art Gallery of Contemporary Art named after Domenico Cantatore, a ruvestine expressionist and cubist painter, where his works are kept, in addition to the presence of the Book Museum at Palazzo Caputi, where important volumes of medieval and renaissance origin. Ruvo di Puglia is a city of oil, with a strong economy based on oil production, an important wine producer, and one of the major industrial and research centers of the Apulian region.
The countryside of Ruvo with its vineyards, olive groves, and arable land is one of the largest in the Land of Bari, falling within the production areas of the Altamura Lentil which obtained the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) in 2017. The territory extends for 222.04 km2 and borders to the north with Bisceglie, to the north-east with Terlizzi, to the east with Bitonto, to the south-east with Altamura, to the south with Gravina in Puglia, to the south-west with Spinazzola and Andria and to the west with Corato. The territory, not only that included in the Alta Murgia National Park, has the typical characteristics of the Apulian karst landscape: sinkholes, karst valleys or lame, among which the upper course of the Lama Balice (otherwise known as the Tiflis stream) is remembered, as well as caves, including the Grave della Ferratella, which is the deepest in the region, and the Abisso di Notarvincenzo. The surface drainage is largely directed to the Adriatic Sea, but there are extensive endorheic areas, among which the largest are that of Calentano, drained by karst sinkholes, and that of the Pantano, adjacent to the inhabited center and drained by an artificial tunnel designed at the beginning of the 20th century.
The Adriatic side has a wooded scrub, covering 1100 hectares, including numerous groups of oak, typical of the area, while in the hinterland the greater exposure to the winds has created a selective vegetation characterized by shrubs and brambles. In the countryside, 1500 plant species have been identified, among which the Austroitalic stipa stands out. In the pastures there are endemic species such as wild orchids and herbaceous layers characterized by ferules, asphodels, and grasses. Typical of the area, among the spontaneous vegetation, is undoubtedly the cardoncello mushroom while in the woods, in addition to Downy Oaks, fragni, holm oaks, Turkey oaks, and farnetti prevail. In the undergrowth there are species of gigari and peony mascula. The habitat of the Alta Murgia does not offer specimens of large animals but can include the presence of foxes, wild boars, hares, hedgehogs, and vipers. However, the existence of numerous species of insects and birds is of particular interest. Typical of the area are the calandrelle, the larks, the cappellacce, and the tottaville. The group of birds of prey is also quite numerous among which there are sparrow hawks, red kites, brown kites, bianconi, lanari, and an important population of lesser kestrels. The karst environments are instead characterized by specimens of Italian crested newt, toad, tree frog, and edible frog while the dry and stony aspect of the Murgia favors the existence of reptiles such as the Kotschy gecko and the Leopard Snake.
The city is subject to a Mediterranean climate, characterized by dry and muggy summers and mild and rainy winters. Snowfalls are infrequent, a little more likely in February, but snow nevertheless appears at least twice a year and also generally can accumulate for a couple of days, but not exceeding 20 centimeters (8 in). Although episodes with significant accumulation are not uncommon, without
