History

According to two ecclesiastical historians, the origins of Peschici date back to the age of the Schiavoni, better known as Slavs. Around 970, they were gathered by Ottone I to set Gargano free from the Saracens.

Once the land was free, the emperor rewarded the Slavs giving them the possibility to occupy the field of San Vito in Gargano with two colonies, called Vico and Peschici. The name Peschici probably has a Balkan origin, since the words pes and pesc in that language mean sand, while the Slav word pjeskusa and the Russian word peski refer to the sand soil.

There were many Saracens‘ attacks on the Gargano coasts between 866 and 969, and they ended up in the X century.
In the XI century Peschici had inhabitants, as the document Chartula offertionis shows. It dates back to 1053 and is now in Santa Maria di Devia.
In the following years, during the feudal age, Peschici went through the domination of various counties, among which those of Lesina and Monte Sant’Angelo, and when it was under the Swabian it happened to live difficult moments because of the fight between the Empire and the Papacy. In the XIII century, together with other cities of Puglia like Bari, Monopoli, Vieste and Trani, it besieged the city of Almissa on the dalmatian coast.
During the time of the Sea Republics, Venice controlled all the commercial movements to the East, included the Adriatic coasts. Here, between 1470 and 1590, Peschici appeared on 22 maps, most of which drawn by geographers of the Serenissima.
After the killing of thousands of people in Vieste in 1554 and the besiege of Tremiti, ten towers were built along the coast. After five years, they increased and became twenty-one, among which we can admire today the Monte Pucci tower.
The first document with a description of Peschici is by Sarnelli and dates back to 1676; afterwards, in 1700, a tombstone in the old town confirms that the city was belonging to the Prince of Ischitella.

As the sabaudian Constitution was approved, Giuseppe Libetta from Peschici entered the Parliament, and then three important events marked the history of Peschici. The first one was the building, in XIX century, of the circum garganica, now road SS. 89, thanks to which the area was not isolated anymore. The second one was the building of the railway at the beginning of the XX century, and the third one the realization of the Aqueduct of Puglia.

After the war, the increase of the population and the continuous emigration do not allow employment and life standard to grow. From 1960 on, thanks to tourism, the situation gets better, and the improvements are now clear.