Puglia - Daunia in September - Manfredonia

It's time to return to the market for fish and fruit. I don't bother about vegetables because we still have our own tomatoes to finish up. We get an enormous pesce Serra and more octopus because it's the only place I buy it, is never chewy and not even expensive either. We take it all back to the apartment and then head back out to Manfredonia where we have booked a visit to the Castle and Archaeological museum which are free as long as you book on the App Ioprenoto.

Everything seems very organised and we arrive on time, only unfortunately the lady who opens the Archaeological museum is missing so it remains closed and we make do with a quick tour of the ramparts.

After lunch and a rest, as restful as it can be to share a sun-lounger with one insistent black cat and several even more persistent mosquitoes, we drive to Abbazia San Leonardo in Lama Volara. We had glimpsed the church from the main road on the way to Manfredonia from Caserta last year, but hadn't managed to stop. The church and the other buildings have been restored recently but only the church is open to the public at the moment. The church is of a similar style to the other most beautiful churches of Puglia, light warm coloured clean stone and in this case with some really wonderful carvings in the stone of the north portal.

The website of the church gives a good description and we spend a while admiring the intricate carvings. The church is also special because of the "fori gnomici". For the summer solstice and the spring and autumn equinox the sun's rays come through a small hole on the roof to project the image of a Rosetta on the floor below. It's a pity that the main road, a dual carriageway, goes right past the church, the noise of the traffic rather spoiling the atmosphere of the place.

We spend some time there, almost getting late for our next appointment at the Basilica Santuario Santa Maria Maggiore church just a ten minute drive away. Once again we have booked on the Ioprenoto App although there are very few people anyway. We have already visited the church but it was only a quick visit on route to Margherita di Savoia two years ago. This time we take our time.

The main church is an excellent example of Romanesque-Apulian architecture, with Islamic and Armenian influences. The actual Basilica stands on foundations from the Roman era and was last restored in 1975. The table of the main altar consists of a magnificent early Christian sarcophagus. We also go down into the ghost-like church of "Dove l'arte ricostruisce il tempo" by the artist Edoardo Tresoldi. To the left of the church, excavations revealed the remains of an early Christian basilica, with three naves with a semicircular apse and a mosaic floor. Here, in 2016, the artist Edoardo Tresoldi created a spectacular fourteen-meter-high wire mesh installation that reconstructs the ancient basilica in 3D exactly above its remains.

But the crypt is still closed. Our last stop is for a quick walk along the beach in Siponto. The Lido is wide and sandy and looks good for walking, but the wind is still cold and blustery and we decide to call it a day and stop on the way back to buy a few things.