This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)

The salt pan of Margherita di Savoia is the largest in Italy and the biggest in the entire Mediterranean Basin. It can be found where the plain of “Tavoliere delle Puglie” overlooks the Adriatic Sea, separated by the latter via a thin strip of land consisting of agricultural areas and sand.
This salt pan used to be a vast coastal lagoon where the Romans and the Greeks had settled a large part of their population, also using it as a merchant’s vessel boarding facility. Only submerged ruins and a stone pier can be still recognized in this area.

In the “city of salt”, Margherita di Savoia, there is a historical museum set up inside an old salt warehouse. The museum is structured along four themed sections which focus on the properties of salt and its uses, the salt pan at the beginning of the XXI century, the salt pan in the past, and the evolution of XX century salt extraction techniques.
The indoor collection houses industrial archaeology finds as interesting evidence of the technical and technological evolution of this salt pan.
Outdoors, some active salt basins can still be seen, and another public exhibition features large-scale finds such as machines, power generators, railway wagons, and locomotives.

THE FAUNA

This area is a popular destination for birdwatchers during the migrations of several species, including colonies of pink flamingos, which also nest here.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)