The territory, not only that included in the Alta Murgia National Park, has the typical characteristics of an Apulian karst landscape: sinkholes, karst valleys, among which the upper course of the Lama Balice (otherwise known as the Tiflis stream) is remembered, as well as caves, including the Grave della Ferratella, which is the deepest in the region, and the Abisso di Notarvincenzo.

[14] The Adriatic side has a wooded scrub, covering 1100 hectares, including numerous oak trees, typical of the area, while in the hinterland the greater exposure to the winds has created a selective vegetation characterized by shrubs and brambles.

The habitat of the Alta Murgia does not offer specimens of large animals but can include the presence of foxes, wild boars, hares, hedgehogs and vipers.

[15] The city is subject to a Mediterranean climate (or, according to the Köppen classification), characterized by dry and muggy summers and mild and rainy winters.

Every winter there are days with low temperatures close to 0 °C (32 °F), due to currents coming from the Scandinavian, Balkan or Russia areas, as well as the extensive nighttime frost in the countryside.

So the first inhabitants wanted to indicate with the onomatopoeic root "ρυ-" that area in which the streams flowed impetuously which then gave rise to the karst phenomena of Apulia.

Some artefacts of worked stone date the first settlements in the Ruvestine countryside to the Middle Palaeolithic while some remains of villages confirm the presence of man since the 6th millennium BC.

The Iapygians settled in the land of Bari giving rise to the Peucetians lineage and Ruvo was initially founded as a hilltop village currently located between the municipal pine forest and the church of San Michele Arcangelo.

Around the 4th century BC the village experienced its moment of greatest splendor by conducting commercial exchanges with most of the Italic populations, including the Etruscans, minting its own currency and boasting a population and a territory never reached again (Ruvo's polis (City-State) of the Greek age included Molfetta, Terlizzi, Corato, Trani and Bisceglie).

Ruvo established itself as a thriving polis of Magna Graecia and its wealth consisted in the trade of olive oil and wine and in the flourishing production of pottery.

The defeat of the Greek Taranto in the war against Rome marked the end of the Hellenistic age in Apulia, thus making Ruvo enter the orbit of Romanization with the name of Rubi.

However, in the imperial age the ruvestine territory underwent a decrease as Molfetta, Trani and Bisceglie rise, thus losing contact with the sea.

In the 11th century the fortress of Ruvo entered the county of Conversano and suffered further violence due to internal struggles for the management of power, which conflicts led to the second destruction of the town.

The walls were further strengthened but despite the long period of peace the population was suffocated by the oppression of the Carafa and by the tyrannical government of the same who transformed the Pilota Tower from a defense tool to a prison for the opponents.

[20] Between the end of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, or in the era of the counter-reformation, Ruvo saw the birth of various associations and congregations still operating today especially in the care of the rites of the Ruvestine Holy Week.

In the post-unification period Ruvo, albeit slowly, knew the signs of progress also thanks to the ruvestine deputy and agronomist Antonio Jatta, who pointed out to the government the numerous problems of Apulia and the province of Bari.

To shed light on the origin of the coat of arms is Giovanni Jatta in his Historical mention of the Ancient City of Ruvo in the Peucetians times.

In his historiography Jatta advised to replace the coat of arms inspired by the Greek coins found on which the ancient name of Ruvo was imprinted, or Ρυψ (Rhyps, to be read "Rüps"), as happened for the city of Taranto.

The Ruvo di Puglia flag is rarely used, although displayed on the balconies of Piazza Giacomo Matteotti, seat of the town hall, during certain periods of the year or on the occasion of secular and national holidays.