The historic center of Vieste is a jewel overlooking the sea. Its symbols, the Pizzomunno and the Trabucco di Punta San Francesco, make it shine amid seafaring tales.

Instituted with a Ministerial Decree in 1982, it is one of the rare cases in the national panorama, in that it includes municipal state land (about 268 hectares), the property of ecclesiastical institutions (about 11) and private citizens (about 273 hectares). The Reserve is developed in altitude, it extends from an altitude of 640 m up to 1130 m.s.l.m. This aspect, according to some scholars, represents a link between the Mediterranean bioclimatic region and the temperate one and therefore it has favoured the development of a considerable variety of species of flowers typical of the Mediterranean scrub.