[3] In addition to the Candelaro river, other waterways include the Triolo and Salsola torrents and Radicosa, Venola, Ferrante, Santa Maria and Potes channels.

In the eleventh century, San Severo was the route of the Via Sacra Langobardorum and a primitive church arose dedicated to Saint Severino, from which continued an influx of pilgrims to Monte Sant'Angelo and movement of people and goods.

[5] The conurbation developed rapidly due to its favorable position for trade, and soon took on considerable importance; it became the seat of Venetian, Florentine, Saracens and Jewish merchants.

[6] In 1521, Charles V sold the city to the Duke of Termoli, Ferdinand of Capua, but Mayor Tiberio Solis was able to redeem it by paying 42,000 ducats to the Emperor by collecting contributions from private citizens.

The rich commerce, cultural vitality and self-government made it one of the major centers of the south, due to the presence of a large Venetian warehouse.

Leandro Alberti (1550) writes of San Severo "this castle is very rich, noble, civilized and filled with people, and is so wealthy that he envied any other in this region.

In 1579, at the height of its prestige but suffocated in debt, the city was sold to Duke Gian Francesco di Sangro, who won for his heirs the title of Prince of Sansevero.

[8] Many families of the old Sanseveresi aristocracy immediately chose to leave the city and those who remained watched helplessly as the era known as the "Regime of Forty" unfolded.

In February 1799, following a fierce reaction to the proclamation of the Jacobin republic, French troops, commanded by Generals Guillaume Philibert Duhesme and La Foret plundered the city with terrible violence.

After the French occupation, the city became a key stronghold of the Carbonari, so that Giuseppe Mazzini long dreamed of making San Severo the starting point of the riots of 1820.

[11] On April 29, 1923, the Crown Prince Umberto I of Italy visited the city and inaugurated the school building "Principe di Piemonte".

On October 27, 1931, the Minister of Communications, Costanzo Ciano, dedicated the Ferrovie del Gargano, linking the station of San Severo to a number of places on the Gargano-Peschici line.

On March 23, 1950, San Severo workers rioted against police, raising barricades and storming the armory and the headquarters of the Italian Social Movement.

The clashes caused one death and wounded forty civilians and soldiers and army tanks occupied the main streets of the city.

In 1996, by special decree, the President of the Republic, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, confirmed for San Severo the title of city, historically acquired in 1580, and the establishment of the Sanseveresi diocese.

In order to avoid a long siege, the imperial soldiers feigned a withdrawal, intending to storm the town by surprise the next night.

On his feast day, each year, the town donates a hundred pounds of wax to the patron saint, proclaimed Defensor Patriae.

[12] In 1931 the municipality, at the request of the Ministry of Interior, officially adopted the spelling "San Severo", having been taken from the dictionary compiled by the United Town's Central Institute of Statistics (The situation is analogous to that of Sanremo).

A number of small monuments are dispersed throughout the flower beds, including the marble bust (1837) of Matteo Tondi by Tito Angelini.

Because of its geographic location, San Severo has had direct contact for centuries with the dialects of Gargano, northern Apulia, Molise, and Campania.

A common practice is for young males to run along the firecrackers as they explode down the street (an analogue tradition, called "Correfoc", exists in Spain).

The three sacred processions converge in the ancient Piazza del Castello, where the statues proceed towards each other, but the embrace of the Mother and the Son is blocked by the Cross, which arises suddenly between them.

Moreover, the solemn ceremony of the vote in San Severino is celebrated annually on January 8 by the Municipal Administration, during which it remembers the apparition of the patron saint.

During the time of the annual carnival, it is customary to prepare awkward puppets that are arranged in comical sitting positions on small chairs by the doors of houses.

In recent years, the old Grape Festival celebrates one of the main products of the Sanseveresi, during the Feast of St. Martin, (or Festival of New Wine) which is held in the historic heart of the city for several days around November 11, with exhibition of local products, wine tasting and local cuisine and various cultural performances (concerts, exhibitions, folklore shows, etc.).

Throughout each year, alongside a full season of concerts curated by the Friends of Music, performances such as Verdi operas, a series of shows of prose (in collaboration with the consortium Teatro Pubblico Pugliese) and evenings at the ballet are featured.

[16] San Severo's University of Foggia has active courses in nursing, business, viticulture and enology (the science and technology of winemaking).

San Severo is at the forefront in the world for the production and marketing of wine, but also produces large quantities of high quality grain, grapes, and olives.

Large agricultural resources have generated a lively system of small and medium-sized industrial products grown and exported to international markets.

The Vase Sanseveresi is a centuries-old traditional method of pruning olive trees like inverted cones, with the focus on horizontal rather than height-based arrangement.