The last stretch of the Via Appia ran across this flat, sun-drenched part of Puglia toward Brundisium, the port from which Romans sailed to Greece and the East. The road, begun in 312 BC from Rome, was the queen of roads, and the whole route became a UNESCO site in 2024. The section between the stations the Romans called Mesochorum and Scamnum passes near Oria and Francavilla Fontana, and while little of the original paving survives here, the line of the road still shapes the landscape, with modern roads, field boundaries and farm tracks following its course.
Oria is the place to stop. It is a hilltop town of white houses, narrow alleys and steep steps, crowned by a castle that the emperor Frederick II rebuilt in the thirteenth century, and a baroque cathedral with a colourful tiled dome. It was a major centre of the Messapians, the people who lived here before the Romans, and later had an important Jewish community in the early Middle Ages, which you can trace in the old Jewish quarter. From the top of the town, the plain spreads out in every direction, a sea of olive trees, vineyards and stone farmhouses.
The riding is flat, straight and hot. Roads across the Salento plain are generally good but can be patched and dusty, with farm vehicles and cyclists, and local driving can be adventurous. The scenery is quietly beautiful, especially the masserie, the fortified farmhouses that dot the countryside, and the dry stone walls. Sadly, many olive groves have been devastated by the Xylella bacterium, and you will see whole fields of grey, dead trees, a heartbreaking sight. Spring brings wildflowers and mild temperatures; summer heat can be overwhelming, with the scirocco wind adding to the discomfort.
Oria and Francavilla Fontana both have fuel, cafés and restaurants, and the food is excellent: orecchiette pasta with turnip tops, fava bean purée with chicory, and the local red wine from Primitivo and Negroamaro grapes. In August, Oria hosts a medieval festival with a famous tournament between the town's districts. Brindisi, where the Appia ended at a pair of columns above the harbour, is about thirty kilometres away and a fitting place to finish a ride along Rome's oldest highway.