Our campaigns are rich in history, culture and tradition and represent our digital imprint, an immutable characteristic sign that identifies us in a timely manner. In the countryside of Corato there are traces of natural paths, used in past centuries by shepherds, to accompany the flocks from one place to another in the countryside, supplying food to the animals and guaranteeing a very high quality of the products.

The routes used by the shepherds are called Tratturi and the migration of the herds is called Transhumance. Puglia and Abruzzo have a very dense network of Tratturi and Tratturelli (secondary routes) and today I post some images of the Tratturo Corato-Fontanadogna, Corato side.

A small trullo built with simple stones and represents the home where many farmers or campagnoli lived in previous centuries

The primitive sheep tracks are made up of purely grassy paths, without space limits, while in recent centuries more targeted routes have been created thanks to the advent of the roads. In the pictures taken you can also admire traces of dry stone walls, recently proclaimed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Masseria often used as a place of refreshment for the shepherds and for their livestock

Along the sheep tracks craft activities of support to transhumance were born, such as iron laboratories where tools and tools were manufactured useful for shepherds, wool lab for shearing animals, farms to allow shepherds to rest after tens of kilometers on foot. A real trading system has therefore developed that has helped the economy of the regions of Abruzzo and Puglia.

The transhumance normally took place in May from Puglia to the mountains of Abruzzo, away from the summer heat, and in September the flocks returned to the Apulian countryside. The life of the shepherd was far from simple due mainly to theft of cattle or frequent injuries along the way.