Riserva Naturale Regionale del Mar Piccolo
The Mar Piccolo — the enclosed inner sea that gives Taranto its extraordinary geography — is also a protected nature reserve of surprising wildness, home to flamingos, herons, cormorants and a mussel-farming tradition that stretches back to the ancient Greeks. Exploring its shores by bicycle or kayak reveals a landscape that feels nothing like the rest of Puglia.
Wildlife and Landscape
The lagoon's two inlets (seni) are fed by freshwater springs called citri that well up from the seabed, creating a brackish ecosystem of exceptional biodiversity. In winter and spring, greater flamingos feed in the shallows in flocks of several hundred — a genuinely startling sight against the backdrop of an industrial city.
Resident species include little egrets, grey herons, kingfishers, black-winged stilts and ospreys on migration. The northern shore, accessible via Viale Magna Grecia, offers the best unobstructed views across the lagoon with binoculars.
The mussel and oyster rafts floating across the lagoon surface are working aquaculture installations that have operated continuously for over 2,000 years — the Romans wrote about Taranto's shellfish — and they give the landscape an otherworldly, industrial-pastoral quality.
How to Explore the Mar Piccolo
The most rewarding way to see the lagoon is by kayak: several local outfitters (check Taranto Kayak and similar operators based near the waterfront) run guided morning paddles that take you between the mussel platforms and close to the flamingo feeding grounds.
Cyclists can follow the road along the northern shore of the first seno for a flat, scenic 10km ride with consistent lagoon views — rent bikes in the modern city centre and cross via the Ponte Girevole.
The lagoon is also visible from the Ponte Punta Penna road bridge on the eastern side, where you can pull over and scan the water — a good option if you have a car and limited time.
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