What is Cassano delle Murge known for?

1,300 hectares of pine and oak forest planted from 1928 after deforestation flooded Bari, the largest forest in the Murge. Eastern entry point to the Alta Murgia National Park, with dolines, pseudosteppe and walking routes from the village edge. Long recognised as a climatic station for the cooler, healthier air the Mercadante forest produces, several degrees below the open plateau.

When is the best time to visit Cassano delle Murge?

Apr–Oct. April through June and September through October are the months the Murge foothills are mild and the Mercadante forest is at its best for walking. July and August reach the mid-thirties on the plateau, but Cassano's reputation as a stazione climatica rests on the cooling effect of the surrounding woods, six or seven degrees below the open Murgia in high summer. October is the olive and almond harvest. November through March is cool and quiet; snow occasionally settles on the higher Murge above the town. The Sagra dei Cardoncelli mushrooms in autumn and the patronal feast of the Madonna degli Angeli in August are the two civic peaks of the year.

Where is Cassano delle Murge?

Cassano delle Murge is a comune in the province of Bari, Apulia region of Italy, about 31 kilometers from Bari.

How do I get to Cassano delle Murge?

From Bari, Cassano delle Murge is roughly 31 km by road.

Apulia · Bari

Cassano delle Murge

A Murge foothills town at the gate of the Alta Murgia park, with the 1,300-hectare Foresta Mercadante mostly inside its territory.

Known for

FORESTA MERCADANTE
1,300 hectares of pine and oak forest planted from 1928 after deforestation flooded Bari, the largest forest in the Murge.
ALTA MURGIA GATE
Eastern entry point to the Alta Murgia National Park, with dolines, pseudosteppe and walking routes from the village edge.
STAZIONE CLIMATICA
Long recognised as a climatic station for the cooler, healthier air the Mercadante forest produces, several degrees below the open plateau.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

The festa: Santa Maria degli Angeli, 2 August

Why come

Cassano delle Murge sits at the foot of the highest step of the Murgia plateau, thirty kilometers south of Bari, at the eastern gate of the Alta Murgia National Park. The Foresta Mercadante, a 1,300-hectare pine and oak forest planted from 1928 onward to repair nineteenth-century deforestation that had flooded Bari several times, runs across the commune's higher ground, with 872 hectares inside Cassano and the rest in Altamura. A menhir found in nearby caves dates settlement to 2500-2000 BC, and a fifth-century mosaic floor confirms continuous Roman-era occupation.

The name first appears in a fourteenth-century document, derived from the Latin Cassius; the 'delle Murge' was added in 1863. Roberto il Guiscardo donated the borough to the archbishopric of Bari in the eleventh century. The Santuario di Santa Maria degli Angeli, run by the Augustinian fathers, anchors the country edge of the village above a cave fresco of the Madonna.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Cassano delle Murge’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.

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What to see

Foresta Mercadante
1,300-hectare pine and oak forest planted from 1928 to repair nineteenth-century Murge deforestation, with 872 hectares inside Cassano, the rest in Altamura.
Santuario di Santa Maria degli Angeli
Augustinian sanctuary on the country edge of the village, built around a cave fresco of the Madonna and tied to local apparition tradition.
Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta
Mother church rebuilt in 1858 on the remains of a fourteenth-century Romanesque church, preserving the original bell tower in the centro storico.
Cripta del Crocifisso
Rock-cut crypt in the centro storico, the kind of subterranean chapel common to Murge towns, evidence of the area's rupestrian tradition.
Palazzo Miani-Perotti
Neoclassical noble palace in the centro storico, one of the surviving aristocratic residences of the post-feudal period.
Torre Civica
Civic clock-tower next to the municipal seat in the centro storico, anchoring the historic core of the town since the fortified period.
Menhir e siti preistorici
Menhir from 2500-2000 BC found in caves around the territory, with stone artifacts and paintings, evidence of long prehistoric occupation.

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Living here

Population 15,010
A local hubi
Pharmacy: none mapped
High school within a 30-minute drive
Nearest airport Bari / Brindisi, 45 min drive
Regional capital Bari, 39 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

Elevation: 341 m
Population: 15,010
Surface area: 90.2 km²

On the map

Google Maps Apple Maps Directions from Bari

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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