The Mezzogiorno

Making up the heel and toe of Italy's boot, the Puglia, Basilicata, and Calabria regions are the largest part of what is known informally as the mezzogiorno, a name that translates literally as "midday." It's a curiously telling nickname, because midday is when it's quietest here. While the blazing sun bears down, cities, fishing ports, and sleepy hillside villages turn into ghost towns, as residents retreat to their homes for four or more hours. This is Italy's deep south, where whitewashed buildings stand silently over the turquoise Mediterranean, castles guard medieval alleyways, and grandmothers dry their handmade orecchiette (ear-shaped pasta), the most Puglian of pastas, in the mid-afternoon heat. The city-states of Magna Graecia (Greek colonies) once ruled here, and ancient names, such as Lucania and Salento, are still commonly used. More »