Daunian Mountains (in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Monti della Daunia or Monti Dauni, or also improperly Subappennino Dauno) are a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

in southern Italy, constituting the eastern appendix of the Campanian Apennines. They occupy the western fringe of

Capitanata The province of Foggia (, ; Foggiano: ) is a province in the Italian region Apulia. This province is also known as Daunia, after the Daunians, an Iapygian pre-Roman tribe living in Tavoliere plain, and as Capitanata, derived from ''Catapanat ...

and the border of

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

with

Molise Molise ( , ; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise together with Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effective until 1970, makes Molise the newest region in Ital ...

and

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

; the range takes its name from an ancient tribe, the

Dauni The Daunians () were an Iapygian tribe that inhabited northern Apulia in classical antiquity. Two other Iapygian tribes, the Peucetians and the Messapians, inhabited the central and southern Apulia respectively. Although all three tribes spoke t ...

, although it was strongly held by

Hirpini The Hirpini (Latin: ') were an ancient Samnite tribe of Southern Italy. While generally regarded as having been Samnites, sometimes they are treated as a distinct and independent nation. They inhabited the southern portion of Samnium, in the more ...

instead. The mountains and hills are bounded northwards by the

Fortore The Fortore (Latin: ''Fertor'' or ''Frento'') is a river which flows through the provinces of Benevento, Campobasso and Foggia in southern Italy. It is long. The river rises from the slopes of Monte Altieri, which reaches above sea level. The For ...

valley, eastwards by the

Tavoliere delle Puglie 300px, The Tavoliere seen from the Gargano promontory. The (; ) is a plain in northern Apulia, southern Italy, occupying nearly a half of the Capitanata traditional region. It covers a surface of c. 3,000 km2, once constituting a sea botto ...

, southwards by the upper

Ofanto The Ofanto (), known in ancient times as Aufidus or Canna, is a 134 or 170 km (83 or 110 mi, depending on the sources) river in southern Italy that flows through the regions of Campania, Basilicata, and Apulia, into the Gulf of Manfredonia near ...

valley. The chain is formed by

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

terrains, and is the source of a series of small streams which flow through the Tavoliere into the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

. The highest peak is Monte Cornacchia, at . Historically, the Daunian Mountains have suffered a substantial depopulation in the last decades, due to their relative isolation. They include 21 ''

comuni A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'', all in the

province of Foggia The province of Foggia (, ; Neapolitan language, Foggiano: ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Regions of Italy, Italian region Apulia. This province is also known as Daunia, after the Daunians, an Iapygians, Iapygian pre-Roman tribe livi ...

, which form two mountain communities (''Comunità Montana dei Monti Dauni Settentrionali '', with seat at

Casalnuovo Monterotaro Casalnuovo Monterotaro is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. The town is located in the Monti Dauni. It was historically an Arbëreshë settlement, the inhabitants however no longer use the A ...

, and the ''Comunità Montana dei Monti Dauni Meridionali'', at

Bovino Bovino is a ''comune'' and hill town at the eastern side of the Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an ...

Highest peaks

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dauni Mountains of Apulia Mountain ranges of the Apennines