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Vico
del Gargano
Vico
of Gargano is situated on a hill 455 metres high and is a graceful
and hospitable town, enhanced by splendid buildings constructed according
to the shape of the hill.
A perfumed welcome to Vico of Gargano
In
the past centuries Vico was famous for its citrus fruits. Resorting
to the numerous springs present on the land, the citrus trees were
cultivated on the sunny slopes running down towards the sea.
When the sailing ships were still in use for the transport of goods,
the oranges of Vico, resistant to long trips, were greatly appreciated
and thus exported as far as England.
The harvesting lasted for months. The citrus cultivated on the Gargano
had an interesting characteristic; the fruit took a long time to ripen,
and luckily, unlike the modern variety, not all the fruit ripened
at the same time. This fact, an appreciated virtue in the past, was
to become an unforgivable defect in modern times when it was necessary
to transport great quantities of the fruit as fast as possible.
Furthermore, the modern systems of transport that replaced the sailing
ships with more up-to-date motorized ships, rendered the production
of citrus in Vico ever more marginal and unimportant.
A modern return to the past
Today
the trend is to favour organically cultivated products and to retrieve
authentic flavours and tastes; in this light, the citrus fruits of
Vico, an authentic typical product of this region, have once more
regained a renewed appreciation.
These oranges and lemons have become object of botanical and medical
studies for their taste and for their high content of vitamins; together
with the marvellous landscapes of the Northern side of the promontory,
have become a gastronomic must one cannot miss.
Saint Valentine's Day
The
town celebrates, each year on the 14th of February, the feast of Saint
Valentine, patron saint of lovers and of citrus fruits. All the town,
the houses and the churches are decorated with oranges and lemons
for the occasion.
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