ROADS TO SOUTHERN ITALY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 43, 25 January 1944, Page 6

ROADS TO SOUTHERN ITALY

(Official War Correspondent)

ITALY, Dec. 1

After the deserts of Africa, New Zealanders find Southern Italy a country of refreshing contrasts. Despite, the fact] that heavy rains have caused some' discomofrt and that the north wind is keen to those used to the breezes of Egypt,, men of the Division are unanimous in their preference, for Europe. The drivers look forward to journeys of a length they used to dread when all they could see for hundreds of miles was a succession of dunes and escarpments. The country about the heel and* instep of litaly provides a series of panoramas of field and farm, inter-: , sec ted, by main roads which are 1 , excellent. and by secondary roads of hard-packed clay. Everywhere there are villages and fairsized towns, each with its claim for scenic beauty. Sometimes it is l a church (and there are many of great antiquity), sometimes. a Roman aqua-; duct or amphitheatre, sometimes, a Swabian archway. • The. ancient feudal system is still very much alive in this country, in which, the old and the 1 ne;w arip inextricably mingled. Manor houses and the farms of retainers are frequent. It was in-one of these that the Division had its first headquarters. Similar scenery extends right up the main highway from the tures.quei port of Taranto to the fine modern city of Bari. From Brindisi one of the most beautiful coastal routes of the world runs northward. Before setting out on it, one may prefer to detour through Lecce, famous lor its Ro-: man amphitheatre and its church. New Zealanders have found the shopping in Lecce unusually profitable, as it is off the main highway —a pleasant backwater with a mere 50,,000 of population. Brindisi itself is> something of a disappointment, being perhaps a little overrun with, regulations for the. average New Zealander. The se.vchty-mile run up the coast to Bari brings a succession of glimpses of the Adriatic, dotted with the innumerable schooners and. caiques of the Mediterranean fishermen. Their harbours are the tiny coves which indent the shoreline, guarded by age-old turreted sea walls. The villages are the embodiihient of a painter's dream, each with) its own claim to the picturesque.

As' one travels north., a change in the architecture of the farmhouses is noticeable. Around Osrunu and Fasano there are more and more examples of the curious, beehivelike dwellings known locally as "trulli." They are built.' on a basic plan that is unvarying—a circular wall of. stone topped with a conical roof mad© of thick black tiles. Of" ten the roof carries an odd crna-: mentation in lighter tiles. Additions, to the buildings are made by the construction of other trulli, so that a large farmhouse consists of something that looks like an -inter* locked group of beehives. The town of Alberobello contains (many hundreds of these novel homes. The coastal roads are interesting enough, but the byways around Bari lead to unsuspected scenic attractions. Of these, perhaps the mosft unusual is the limestone cave district which centres round the grottoes of Castellana and Putignano. The Castellana caves, the better exr ample of, the. two, are reached by way of a broad concrete staircase of 222 steps, leading into a vast cavern over 200 feet below ground. From, here the visitor passes into a world of unreality, illuminated by the beam of the guide's' torch, and. by concealed electric light. The trail leads through ' seven great caves to the edge, of an abyss which extends another three miles. Castellana compares favourably with Waitomo„ even though there are up glow worms. Its attractions include the Altar, with its Virgin Mary: the. Organ Pipes, composed of blende er translucent stalactites and stalagmites which ring musically when touched; the Hall of Statues; fossilised skulls of animals; waving folds of alabaster less than half an inch thick, through which the light of. a lantern will shine; the "Lu'pa di Roma," or she-wolf of Rome; and many vistas of a fairy-li'lce beauty. From Castellana you can ;travcl on the byways to Bari through the rich grape country of Conversano and Hutigiano,, stopping to sample the local vintage in each town, which is dominated by its ancient church; or through the olive trees ta Casamassima and Valenzano. Even then you have missed the ruins of Gravina, the; churches of Altamura and Terlizzi, the fountainspring of Acquaviva, and the impressive Castel del Monte. In and around Bari itself are many sights which are novel and interesting to a New Zealander, though he would prefer to make his first

call at the stadium, with a seating capacity of 35,000, where a game of Rugby football is usually in progress. By the time he reaches Bari, however., he has shaken off the memory of the wastes of the desert, and is a confirmed sightseer, keen to push on and see what the north has in store.