The Merinizzata Italiana is a modern Italian breed of dual-purpose sheep from southern Italy.
[1]: 246 [2] It was created in the twentieth century by cross-breeding local Italian stock with imported Merino breeds from France and Germany.
The Merinizzata Italiana is a modern breed, created over several decades in the twentieth century by cross-breeding of indigenous Gentile di Puglia and Sopravissana stock with imported Merino breeds such as the French Berrichon du Cher and Île-de-France, and the German Merinolandschaf.
[1]: 246 [3]: 84 The aim was to produce a good meat breed without sacrificing wool quality.
[3]: 84 It is reared mainly in the southern and central Italian regions of Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Lazio, the Marche, Molise, Puglia and Umbria.