Gargano’s most picturesque landscapes are in the Tremiti islands, rising from the sea at 20km from the Gargano promontory.
Someone has described them as a cocktail of mythical beauties of nature, indeed its coastlines full of inlets, steep cliffs, reefs and grottos as the grotto of the “violette”, “bue marino”, “rondinelle”, “sole” etc..
The Tremiti islands were called Diomedee, because according to the legend, after the fall of Troy, Diomede reached the islands where he was later on buried.
The island of San Domino with its long shape is the biggest one and is covered by a Mediterranean vegetation. Known also under the name of “Orto del Paradiso” (Paradise garden), the island offers a strong environmental charm.
The island of San Nicola, the most fertile is the place of public offices, where all the connection services coming from Rodi Garganico, Peschici, Vieste, Termoli and Manfredonia refer to.
It preserves the Abbey of S. Maria a Mare, founded in the 1045 and rebuilt in the XV century.
Grottos as the ones of the Madonna and the Ferraio are open to the bristly coast. A steep walk leads through the drawbridge of the abbey-fortress to the Church with a beautiful Renaissance portal, created in 1473.
The island of Caprera or Capraia is rocky and covered with lentisk and capers bush. There are not people living there and on the upper side there is a lighthouse. A quick visit to the Architiello, on the extreme edge of Puntasecca, during the twilight is the last stop of the tour of the archipelago.
The sea surrounding the islands is full of fish, from lobsters to gropers and it is therefore a destination for underwater fishermen.