Acquaviva delle Fonti ( ; known as just Acquaviva until 1863) is a town and comune of 20,446 inhabitants, in the Metropolitan City of Bari, in Apulia, Italy. Acquaviva is famous for its characteristic red onions, which have been awarded the DOP mark. The main monuments are the Palazzo de Mari (now the town hall), the Co-Cathedral of Sant'Eustachio and the ancient village. The town is located on the Murge plateau at an elevation of above sea level, and is from the Adriatic Sea and Bari, which is the biggest city of the region. The Ionian Sea is more than to the south.
The in Acquaviva is one of the biggest hospitals in southern Italy, with a wide range of surgical departments and a center for the treatment of rare diseases.
Physical geography
Territory
The town rises at an average altitude of 300 meters above sea level in the Apulian hinterland, on the lower Murgia of Bari, not far from both the Adriatic and Ionian coasts. Acquaviva owes its name to the large aquifer that flows in its subsoil, which extends from the old town to the foot of the Salentino hill. The flat landscape that can be observed from the Collone and Monticelli districts, the highest areas of the territory, is suddenly interrupted by depressions called "lame", or old beds, now dry rivers, shaped by karst. Typical of the lame is a luxuriant Mediterranean scrub. Other phenomena due to karst are the sinkholes, mainly located in the blades, which are holes in the ground in the shape of a funnel or bowl. The flat part of the municipal territory north of the inhabited center reaches an altitude of just under 200 m a.s.l . Proceeding to the south, until it exceeds 430 meters above sea level in the southernmost offshoots of the municipal territory from the hilly course.
Climate
The climate is Mediterranean with cool and variable winters and quite dry summers. The average annual of rainfall is below 600 mm, due to the orographic barrier to the southwest, with more frequent rains during autumn and winter and less frequent during summer (where there are however afternoon thunderstorms). The daily maximums are therefore only around 26–31 °C, with occasional maximums above 35 °C (during the arrival of the African anticyclone, especially with south-western favonic currents). The summer nights have average 17–23 °C. Winter temperatures are 9–14 °C for the highs and 4–9 °C for the lows. Between autumn and winter, fog can appear. The one from irradiation occurs in nights of high pressure, that from advection or with southern wet currents rising from the Ionian Sea or with northern wet currents from the Adriatic Sea. Frosty nights can also occur, however rarely drop below −3 °C. Snow falls almost exclusively during cold air waves from the Balkans. This happens thanks to the "humidifying" action of the Adriatic which releases humidity.
Origin of the name
The name Acquaviva comes from the superficial town aquifer that extends under the municipal territory, already known in Roman times. In the past the city was known for its abundance of water, so much so that during periods of drought came people from other countries for water. Traces of the importance of water for the community are the numerous wells in the old town and in the countryside. These are called 'ngegne, machines by animal traction that drew water from artesian wells.