Where is Rodi Garganico?

Rodi Garganico is a comune in the province of Foggia, Apulia region of Italy, about 89 kilometers from Foggia.

Apulia · Foggia

Rodi Garganico

A Gargano promontory town above the Adriatic, citrus capital of the peninsula, with DOP oranges and lemons grown since the Middle Ages.

89 km / 55 mi

Nearest hub (Foggia)

3,302

Population

May–Sep

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Rodi Garganico sits on a rocky promontoryon the northern slope of the Gargano peninsula, inside the Parco Nazionale del Gargano and east of the Lago di Varano. The early-nineteenth-century historian Michelangelo Manicone connected the founding to the Daunian people; a competing tradition has Greek colonists from Rhodes, the source of the modern name. The terraced slopes below the centro storico hold the citrus groves that define the town: the Arancia del Gargano and the Limone Femminello del Gargano, both DOP, both cultivated continuously since the Middle Ages, the lemon prized for its smooth thin peel and intense aroma. The Sanctuary of the Madonna della Libera holds an icon of the Madonna that tradition says arrived with Venetian refugees fleeing Constantinople in 1453. The Chiesa di San Nicola di Mira keeps a Greek-Byzantine bell tower. Long beaches extend west and east of the town.

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Gallery

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Known for

Santuario della Madonna della Libera
Marian sanctuary above the old town, holding an icon tradition says was brought by Venetian refugees fleeing the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
Chiesa di San Nicola di Mira
Old parish church with a Greek-Byzantine bell tower, the architectural trace of the Gargano's eastern liturgical past.
Centro storico
Whitewashed promontory village on the cliff above the Adriatic, narrow stepped lanes dropping toward the harbour and the beaches.
Spiagge di Rodi
Long sand beaches extending both west toward Foce Varano and east toward San Menaio, the longest continuous coastline on the Gargano.
Parco Nazionale del Gargano
National park covering the peninsula, with the citrus terraces of Rodi protected as a working agricultural landscape inside the park boundary.

When to visit

Best months · May–Sep

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through September is the season the Gargano coast works: warm water, calm Adriatic, the citrus groves green on the terraces above the beaches. June and September are the better months, before and after the August peak when the campsites between Rodi and Peschici fill. July and August push the centre full and the beach parking impossible by ten in the morning. October keeps the water swimmable. The Limone Femminello and the Arancia del Gargano are harvested through winter and into spring; many groves stay productive twelve months a year. November through March the Adriatic wind is hard and most beach services close.