Taranto is a province in Apulia in Italy.

Cities

• 1 Taranto — the third-largest city of Southern Italy boasts a thousand-year-old history
• 2 Castellaneta — a city of many ravines
• 3 Palagiano — the "City of the Clementines"
• 4 Martina Franca — its historic centre is filled with a mixture of Baroque and Rococo limestone buildings

Get in

By air

There is no airport with commercial flights in the province. There are two airports with passenger service close to the province:

• Bari airport ("Karol Wojtyla")
• Brindisi airport ("Salento")

A shuttle service allows the connection of Taranto (from the bus terminal of the merchant port) with the two airports.

By road

The province is crossed by the A14 motorway, also known as the Autostrada Adriatica Bologna - Taranto, and by provincial and state roads. The capital is the crossing point between the three major road arteries of the province:

• the state road 7 Via Appia, which connects Taranto with Brindisi on the eastern side and Matera on the western side;
• the state road 7 ter Salentina, which connects the capital with Lecce, crossing many centres of the eastern province;
• the state road 100 of Gioia del Colle, which connects Taranto with Bari and joins the SS 7 at the height of the town of Massafra;
• The highway 106 Jonica, which starts from Taranto winds along the coast of south-western Ionian;
• the Strada Statale 106 dir Jonica, which joins the SS 106 at the height of Chiatona with the SS 7 at the height of Palagiano;
• the state road 172 dei Trulli, which connects Taranto with Casamassima through some inhabited centres of the Itria Valley.

Byvtrain

There are five railway lines in the province. Three sections are managed by RFI, and two by the Ferrovie del Sud Est:

• the Bari-Taranto line via Gioia del Colle (RFI);
• the Taranto-Brindisi line (RFI);
• the Taranto-Reggio Calabria (RFI) line.
• the Martina Franca-Lecce line (FSE);
• the Bari-Taranto line via Martina Franca (FSE);

The main railway station of the province is that of Taranto; it is also the only one in the province where an interchange can be made between the Ferrovie del Sud Est and the Ferrovie dello Stato. The Martina Franca station is an important FSE exchange hub between the Martina Franca-Lecce and Bari-Taranto lines.

Get around

A provincial road of considerable importance for local tourism is the Litoranea Salentina SP 100/122, on the coast of the Salento side of the province, which connects the capital to Santa Maria di Leuca.

Eat

It can boast some products with DOP and IGP certification :

• Terra d'Otranto PDO oil
• Terre Tarentine DOP oil
• Clementines of the Gulf of Taranto PGI

Drink

DOC wines from the province of Taranto