puglia is the "heel" of the italian boot, the gargano peninsula is its "spur" and abruzzo and molise together form the "ankle".
hugging the southeastern seabord of italy and looking towards the balkans, the mountainous regions of abruzzo and molise, united until 1963, differ dramatically from puglia, the richest of the three.
abruzzo and molise are sparsely populated, quiet places where the wild landscape exerts a strong influence.
settled by various appennine tribes in the middle bronze age, the areas were later subdued by the romans, united under the normans in the 12th century and, thereafter, ruled by a succession of dynasties based in naples.
abruzzo, dominated by the apennine, is a brooding, introspective landof shepherds.
vertiginous drops preface the ascent to ramshackle hilltowns clinging to the sides of high mountains, semi - abandoned and poor.
molise is less dramatic, but life in both regions is primitive.