The Peranzana or Provenzale cultivar is mainly present in a small area of Puglia, identifiable in the countryside of the municipalities of Torremaggiore, San Severo and San Paolo di Civitate - Alto Tavoliere delle Puglie - in the province of Foggia. The production area can be traced back to the history of these same territories: they, in fact, belonged to the fief of the De Sangro, a noble family that has owned these lands since 1083, except for brief intervals including a period in which they were assigned to the Templars and then to the Benedictines. The Di Sangro, of the ancient dukes of Burgundy, among their noble titles were, in fact, dukes of Torremaggiore, princes of San Severo and marquises of Castelnuovo and Casalvecchio.
An illustrious member of the noble family was born Raimondo De Sangro in Torremaggiore on January 30, 1710 and died in Naples on March 22, 1771. Known scientist and member of the bran academy, alchemist, inventor, member of the mason, esotericist. other, even an attentive and sophisticated botanist, his interest in nature and the plant world, led him to steal secrets and ancient traditions from the farmers of Torremaggiore that attributed therapeutic potential to certain herbs and roots of wild plants and allowed Raimondo to use extracts and essences for the treatment of diseases and to obtain textile fibers. In France, where he sometimes went to visit the princely families with which he was related (ancient dukes of Burgundy), he probably had the opportunity to get to know particular olive trees cultivated in Provence and certainly transferred them to the countryside of his fief of San Severo, Torremaggiore and San Paolo di Civitate.
