The Master, as everyone calls him here, says that these ingenious fishing machines (allow fishermen to project themselves into the sea, up to 45 meters away from the ground, through the long antennae used to drop the trap, the network that serves to trap fish, hence the name) have always been motionless on the rocks, long before that on the coast of Puglia arise town and abbeys. The trebuchet, which stands on the rock and is reflected on the seabed, fascinated by its appearance and the interweaving of beams and cables, so fragile and light to the eye, as flexible and resistant to storm surges.
The result of the ingenuity of the craftsmen of the past, is the oldest maritime tradition of Gargano and today, continuing in their function, have become cultural heritage of the Region of Puglia. There are about thirty, concentrated on the coast from Vieste and Peschici.
mong those in operation there is the trebuchet Punta S. Croce, managed by the Master, from which assist in fishing (on reservation) or simply admire the structure and the lighthouse in front. "My true refuge, however," says the Master, "remains the trebuchet had a dowry, near the Bay of St. Lawrence, the most isolated and hidden. Climb is like finding the meeting point between water, earth and sky. I go there early in the morning, when there is none. It seems to be on a huge spider that embraces you with its web. My world is up here and if sometimes I feel alone, I talk to my best friends: Genevieve and Vercingetorix, two seagulls who stop on the joints of this ingenious. "
A slight wind creeps between the posts driven into the rock, caresses the network where you can still move many small fish (the sea here is among the best fishing in the Adriatic) and there settles a bit 'of sand. Fine sand of a white lit, as white is the color of Vieste. The houses, the staircases on sheer cliffs, narrow streets seem dusted with talcum powder as they are candid. He turns his eyes drawn to the friezes of a window or the decoration of a building that suggest the glories of the past.
Vieste is the heart of the rocky outcrop of Italy, to be discovered especially in autumn, when it offers the best of themselves. Can not be ignored by the sea: it goes from the embrace of the bays (Camps Bay and its beautiful bay), the caves, sea cavities which honeycomb like lace the coast (that of the Swallows), in which the birds are staying for the entire year and intertwine splendid flights or Grotta Campana, so called because the erosion gave the bell shape.
The sea is the frame of an equally nuanced that is the old town, located on the rocky peninsula of St. Francis. "Our country - continues trabuccolante - is a set of traditions, history, scents and flavors that come to mind as you move through the streets."