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Foggia is the main town on the Tavoliere, the enormous plain that stretches from the border with Basilicata to the Gargano massif (and thence the Gargano promontory) in Puglia. The chessboard of fields that make up the plain are Italy’s breadbasket (or should we say pasta bowl). This is prime wheat growing country - as you empty your fusilli into a boiling pan, you can reflect that it very probably began its life on the Tavoliere. The other main towns are Lucera, San Severo and Cerignola.

Interestingly the checkerboard layout of the fields dates back some 2000 years. The fertile land was divided up into neat little parcels, and given to Roman centurions as they reached pension age (’tavoliere’ derives from the Latin ‘tabulae censuariae’ which were the tables the army used to classify the farmland). It was something of a poisoned chalice, as the Tavoliere proved prone to earthquakes, with the swamps being home to plagues of malaria-bearing mosquitoes. Eventually the farms fell into disrepair, and by the Middle Ages (with the Romans’ marvellous engineering schemes to irrigate the plain now lost), the unkempt plain was used for sheep farming.

New irrigation schemes in the 1920s turned the area into the desirable and lush farmland it is today. The elements are still a challenge, with flooding in the winter from the Ofanto and Fortore rivers, and summer droughts. Crops include wheat, beet, olives, grapes and tomatoes.

Property for sale in Foggia and Puglia