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Visit Rodi Garganico
Rodi Garganico is located between the towns of Ischitella and San Menaio on the north coast of the Garganico, in the Puglia department of south-east Italy below the mountains of the Gargano National Park..
Rodi Garganico is a small town with a great past and there is much to discover as well as its impressive coastal location.
Our trip to Rodi Garganico can start from the Church dedicated to the 'Shrine of Our Lady of the Libera’, in which is guarded a venerated image of Our Lady - the town inhabitants are devoted to the work of the sea and constantly exposed to its dangers, and this devotion has been beautifully expressed by Filippo Fiorentino in "Coming from the Sea" (*see note below). The Church has three naves, and it is of Baroque style. The main altar in polychrome marble, dates from the mid-nineteenth century.
Coming from the Sea
The painting arrived in Rodi Garganico in 1453 on a Venetian ship from Constantinople. The assumptions made by the scholar about the painting on dating, style, colour and alterations are interesting: the painting depicts the “Madonna and child”, playing with a dove (symbol of peace) held by a thread, while the right hand is raised in blessing. The painting, unsigned, appears to date back to the mid-fifteenth century, performed by an artist of the Gothic-Venetian school (a school of painting that, in addition to the Renaissance techniques, took again the Gothic Medieval style).
Visit continued...
After visiting the shrine, passing through the picturesque streets of Rodi Garganico Old Town we encounter the first Franciscan convent, now the Church of St. Peter and Paul, which was formerly part of a convent built at the time of St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226). The story narrates that it was built when St. Francis, between 1216 and 1221, came on pilgrimage to the grotto of San Michele in Monte Sant'Angelo.
In addition there is a Belvedere which overlooks the city walls, with the Aragonese Castle in the corner tower of the "Spuntone". Of the watchtowers of Rodi Garganico the 'Spuntone' is the most recent, probably built in 1535 by Pietro di Toledo (1484-1553), viceroy of Naples, to defend the town from the Turks.
Descending from the castle and climbing the steep steps and narrow alleys of the charming seaside neighborhood of Vuccolo, probably of Lombard origin, we find the Church of the Crucifix, which is surely one of the most important historical monuments of the city It was the first parish Church of the city, then later closed due to damage by the earthquake that struck the area in the year 1679. Repeatedly re-built, the church has a nave with six altars and polychrome reliefs depicting the four Evangelists. Covered with a barrel vault, in the center of it stands a fresco depicting the “Madonna del Carmine "; the nave is enriched by two organs (a little to one side, and one conducted in 1875 by Enrico Carcano (19th century) in Milan). Among the artistic works are a wooden statue of the 'Dead Christ', from the late seventeenth century, restored in 1875 and 1927.
Finally, we can not just leave Rodi Garganico without having first experienced the local cuisine. Among other things, thanks to local products and fisheries on which is the local cuisine is based, the city is a meeting point for gourmets. There are plenty of local dishes to be discovered, such as the 'orange salad, salad with wild onions, the "Agostinelle" in oil and lemon, mussels au gratin, the "canolicchi" lemon , fish soup, snail soup, stuffed Troccoli and a good selection of local wines.
See also history of Rodi Garganico
See the the Puglia travel guide for more places to visit in the same region as Rodi Garganico.