What is Mattinata known for?

Twin limestone sea stacks Arco di Diomede and Le Forbici, the icon of the eastern Gargano coast, named for the orange blossom of the bay. Benedictine ruins at 850 meters on the highest plateau of the eastern Gargano, founded around 1000, abandoned in the fifteenth century. Protected area covering the Gargano peninsula, the limestone headland that juts east into the Adriatic from the Foggia plain.

When is the best time to visit Mattinata?

May–Sep. May through September is the season Mattinata runs at full strength. The Adriatic water at Vignanotica and Baia delle Zagare is swimmable from late May, the Monte Sacro trail is at its best when the orchids flower in May and June, and the coastal cliffs catch a long evening light through the summer. July and August push past thirty degrees and fill the beaches; the boat shuttle to the faraglioni is the easier access. April and October are the in-between months: empty beaches, mild weather, olive harvest in November. November through March is quiet. Many seaside places close, the Monte Sacro trail gets windy and the Adriatic side of the Gargano takes the winter storms.

Mattinata is a comune in the province of Foggia, Apulia region of Italy, about 64 kilometers from Foggia.

How do I get to Mattinata?

From Foggia, Mattinata is roughly 64 km by road.

Apulia · Foggia

Mattinata

The only Apulian town that faces south on the Adriatic, the white amphitheater of the eastern Gargano beneath Monte Sacro.

Known for

ZAGARE FARAGLIONI
Twin limestone sea stacks Arco di Diomede and Le Forbici, the icon of the eastern Gargano coast, named for the orange blossom of the bay.
MONTE SACRO ABBEY
Benedictine ruins at 850 meters on the highest plateau of the eastern Gargano, founded around 1000, abandoned in the fifteenth century.
GARGANO NATIONAL PARK
Protected area covering the Gargano peninsula, the limestone headland that juts east into the Adriatic from the Foggia plain.

When to visit

Best · May–Sep

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

Why come

Mattinata sits at seventy-five meters on the eastern Gargano. The Iapyges, immigrants from Greece and the Balkans, settled the surrounding hills from the fifth century BC; the Roman port of Matinum, on the modern seafront, gave the town its name. The current settlement is younger than most Garganic centers: it was administered as part of Monte Sant'Angelo until 1955, when it became an independent comune.

The town proper sits below the mountain that watches over it, the two bound by the same limestone that runs from the abbey ruins down to the coast. South of town the shoreline drops toward the sea stacks and, ten kilometers further on, the pebble crescent and cliffs of Baia di Vignanotica. The national park covers all of it, mountain, coast and town alike. A settlement younger than its neighbors, built on ground far older: the Roman port beneath the seafront, the settled hills behind it, the abbey above it, all folded into a comune that has only carried its own name since the middle of the last century.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Mattinata’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

What to see

Baia delle Zagare
Bay south of town with two iconic limestone sea stacks, the arch-shaped Arco di Diomede and the scissor-shaped Le Forbici.
Baia di Vignanotica
Pebble crescent under tall limestone cliffs, reached on foot from the Sentiero dell'Amore from Baia dei Mergoli.
Monte Sacro and Abbazia della Santissima Trinità
Ruined abbey standing where Benedictine monks raised it to abbey status in 1138, after annexation to the abbey of Siponto brought its abandonment.
Parco Nazionale del Gargano
National park covering the eastern Gargano headland, with limestone karst, beech forest above 800 meters and protected orchid populations.
Centro storico
White-amphitheater old town opening south to the Adriatic, only independent from Monte Sant'Angelo since 1955.

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Living here

Population 5,976
Off the beaten pathi
Pharmacy in town
Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
Nearest airport Bari / Brindisi, 2 h 18 min drive
Regional capital Bari, 2 h 22 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

Elevation: 75 m
Population: 5,976
Surface area: 73.48 km²

On the map

Google Maps Apple Maps Directions from Foggia

These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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