Chieuti is called the gate of Apulia, because it is the first Apulian comune you meet coming down the Adriatic; it stands at 221 metres on a hill between the Saccione stream and the Fortore, with its own marina of sandy beaches. Within its territory once stood Cliternia Frentana, an ancient town destroyed by the Goths in 495. The village of today, though, is Albanian: it was founded between 1461 and 1470 by Arbëresh refugees, welcomed by the Aragonese sovereigns because of their ties to George Kastrioti Skanderbeg, and it is one of the two Arbëresh comuni in the province of Foggia, along with Casalvecchio di Puglia.
The very name of those people tells of a separation: before the Ottoman conquest all Albanians called themselves Arbëreshë, but after the Turkish invasion those who stayed home took the name Shqiptarë, while the emigrants to Italy went on calling themselves as before. Here the language is still spoken. The church of San Giorgio Martire was built in the sixteenth century in honour of Skanderbeg, and for the saint's day the carrese is run: ox-drawn carts along five kilometres, from the fields to the church square, where the winner is proclaimed. On the arms there is a round tower with a red kite perched on the battlements.
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📅 Every year, from 21 to 24 April
From 21 to 24 April Chieuti celebrates its patron Saint George the Martyr with the «carrese», the race of ox-drawn carts, the most eagerly awaited event of the town.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Chieuti, but an easy day trip away.
