Puglia

Known as the heel of Italy, Puglia is a large strip of land stretching out into the Mediterranean and has, since ancient times, acted as a bridge between East and West, Europe and Asia, the peoples of the continent and those on the sea.

Some visit Puglia for its architecture, some for its landscape, some for its archaeology and some for its food, but all go away haunted by memories of a single man: Frederick 11 of Hohenstaufen. Known to Dante as "the father of Italian poetry" Frederick built most of the castles that are still a dominant architectural feature of the region. He founded many of the splendid Puglian churches, carrying on the tradition of the Puglian Romanesque begun by his Norman predecessors a century before. Puglian Romanesque fuses Byzantine, Saracenic and Italian decorative techniques with the French architectural forms introduced by the Normans and this first appeared in the Church of San Nicola at Bari in 1087.

The landscape of Puglia is hugely varied ranging from the forested and mountaineous Gargano Promontory to the vast inland plains of northern Puglia. Puglia has the longest coastline of any region in Italy, a fact which has made it peculiarly attractive to foreign invaders from the ancient worshippers of Zeus to the sun-worshippers of the present day.

Food and wine is delicious and rich in flavour from the sun drenched and fertile soil with fabulous ancient olive trees everywhere. The most famous pasta product of Puglia is orecchiette (little ears) and pasta sauces are simple and delicious using tomatoes and the local olive oil. Fresh fish and seafood is found on the coast  and in particular anchovies, mussels, squid and oysters whilst inland a lot of lamb is eaten, Puglia being the third most important area for sheep farming after Lazio and Sardinia.

Bari is the largest and most important commercial centre in Puglia. Founded by Greeks, developed by Romans as an important trading centre, destroyed by William theBad in 1156 and restored by William the Good in 1169, Bari is divided into two distinct parts: the Citta Vecchia, a labyrinth of tightly tangled medieval streets and dazzling white houses, and the Citta Nuova, the modern city, with wide boulevards laid out at perfect right angles to each other.

There is lots to visit in Bari including the Church of San Nicola founded in 1087 with beautiful facade and column capitals of the choir screen, the Cathedral with its particularly fine window which adorns the rear facade. Nearby is Bari's Castello built in Norman times and considerably enlarged by Isabella of Aragon in the 16th Century and the Pinacoteca Provinciale containing paintings from the 11th century.

The Itria Valley & The Murge dei Trulli -Ostuni, Alberobello, Martina Franca.... 

This is mainly a plateau area of gently undulating reliefs situtaed between 350 and 500 metres above sea level, covered with red earth adn thinck with low vines, green holm oak woods and patches of carobs, olives, almond and fruit trees. The reguin takes its name from the characteristic dwellings, trulli, that are dotted all over its countryside. Isolated or in groups, they make up the urban fabric of the monumental area of the world famous Alberobello, some being set along the natural line of the Itria valley, a depression of karst origin overlooked by Martina Franca and Locorotondo.

The trulli take their name from the Greek tholos (cupola) and give the whole area a social characteristic that is unique in Italy: born following the division of landed property, they constitute the so-called phenomenon of scattered population. Each family group lives on its own land without forming urban centres; these microcosms are based on an average estate two hectares in size, all farmed, with a trullo standing at the centre and dominating the land. Statistics speak of sixty trulli per square kilometre!

The trullo seen today has a distinctive cupola in grey stone, the front is always perfectly whitewashed and it is surrounded by countryside ploughed and cultivated with vines and olives. The cupola is made up of 'chiancarelle', thin layers of calcareous rock in the form of slabs, used for more than a thousand years in Pulgia as bricks. At the top of the cupola stands a stone pinnacle decorated in the most varied forms - a ball, a cone or combinations of the two. Nearly all the trulli also have symbols and writing on the cupolas, drawn roughly in white and grey, serving superstition and as good luck charms. Inside, the trulli have a large quadrangular room beneath the cupola with the other rooms leading off this: bedroom, kitchen and on the entrance side there is usually a vestibule beneath an arch. Very often the trullis are combined in twos or more: the smaller ones serve as stores for agricultural material and if they lack the distinctive cupola they are called 'casedde'.

Alberobello began as a farming village near an oak wood and this is the reason for its name. It grew up around a 6th century abbey and in 1635 it was adopted by Count Girolamo 11 as his country residence. Then in 1797 it was raised to the rank of city by the King of Naples. The southern part of the village is the 'trulli district', comprising the quarters of Monti and Aia Piccola, consisting entirely in trulli (approximately 1070) in groups and standing along the steep, winding streets that climb up the hill.

Just south is Locorotondo, placed on a rise that dominates the Itria valley, and famous for its topographical plan with an original circular perimeter. Worth visiting are the Gothic church of Santa Maria la Greca and the Neoclassical mother church of San Giorgio, a wonderful example of nineteenth century churches in Puglia.

Martina Franca is 6 kms from Locorotondo with wonderful views of the Itria valley. The village has an almost circular plan which follows the line of the ancient walls and originates from an ancient 10th century village. The old town centre is of great interest for its marked and compact Baroque character, remained intact after the 18th century and accentuated by palaces and houses, churches and, in particular, the characterisitc overhanging balconies and the large loggias with one or two tiered arches, a feature particular to local architecture.

Cisternino has an oriental air with its white washed terraced houses with outside staircases and balconies. Arisen in a territory inhabited in pre-Roman times, in 1180 it was given to the Bishop of Monopoli by Pope Alexander 11 and having expanded in the 16th century it rose to the rank of independent commune bound to Venice.

In the surrounding area there is a thick pine forest of great naturalistic importance which extends along the side of the hill towards the sea.

From Cisternino it is 14km to the white village of Ostuni, a town standing on three hills at the edge of the Murgia dei Trulli and surrounded by Aragonese ramparts. It has an egg shaped plan and a highly distinctive appearance with stepped streets, archivolts, outside staircases and whitewashed houses.

The old centre is dominated by the 15th century cathedral with a strikingly beautiful and original  Romanesque -Gothic facade with concave and convex half-arches - particularly special are the sculpted portals and the central rose window.

Food and Wine of the Itria valley:

Alberobello: olive oil, sheeps cheese, cartellate, turde 'n zulze Locorotondo: gnemeriidde, suffuchet, mushrooms, lamb and kid goat, Verdeca and Alessano white wine Martina Franca: ricotta, cacioricotta, capocollo, bean soup, sausage, offal, taralli with fennel seed Ostuni: mature ricotta for grating, olive oil, Ostuni Bianco and Ottavianello red.

Lecce is known for its profusion of Baroque houses and churches. Intensive building in the 17th and 18th centuries created an architectural uniformity unique in Southern Italy. Churches drip with ornate altars and swirling columns that give the effect of classicism gone berserk. Outside, shadeless streets meander past curving yellow palaces bright with bursts of bougainvillea. Lecce's harmonious Piazza Duomo is framed by the facades of the Duomo, the Palazzo Vescovile and the Seminario, all built or reqorked in teh 17th Century. The altars inside the Duomo, carved with flowers, fruit and human fugures, are typical of the ornate local style. The most complete expression of Leccian Baroque is the Basilica di Santa Croce, whose exuberant facade sports a balcony supported by eight grotesque caryatids.

Lecce is within easy reach of beaches at Gallipoli on the Ionian and Otranto on the Adriatic seas.

The Gargano Promontory is a protected area that reaches into the Adriatic to the east of the Tavoliere. The Gargano is the scholastic 'heel' of Italy and incorporates some fabulous scenery, beaches, rocky coves and villages full of history and tradition. In the central part of the Gargano National Park is the immense Foresta Umbra - a sweeping expanse of giant beech, hom oak, hornbeam and Aleppo pines. Monte Sant Angelo is well worth a visit, one of the most characteristic towns in Puglia for its Medieval appearance, steep streets and low houses with just a door and one window and has developed along a panormaic ridge.

The coastline south of here is harsh and rocky, full of bays, caves and oddly-shaped rocks, with secluded beaches and fine, golden sand, a true paradie for snorkellers and lovers of the sea.

Contact with the sea is one of the principal physical features of Puglia: two of its natural divisions, the Gargano and the Salentine, are true peninsulas. No other Italian mainland region can boast a similar length of coastline. With the exception of certain parts of the Gargano and Otranto coast, the Puglian coast is mainly low and sandy. Taranto & Gallipoli are both ports on the Ionian Sea and can be subject to ferocious weather and consequently hazardous for pleasure boats. Both are enclosed by bridges and/or quays protecting them from the southerly winds. Taranto is known as 'the town of two seas' and is a busy industrial port. Gallipoli is set on a headland and a small island which extends 3km into the Ionian Sea. There are many churches worth visiting including the Cathedral of Sant'Agata. The 'citta' occupies the limestone island with narrow, winding streets enclosed within a scenic road opening onto the site of the ancient walls.

From Gallopoli you can reach Leuca at the extreme tip of the Salentine along the lovely coast road which flanks the long stretch of sand, marking the bay whci sends at Torre del Pizzo. The small port of Santa Maria di Leuca is a pretty town and excellent for anyone wishing to explore both coastlines by boat. Here, above the town is Villa Bianca, a fabulous villa with views across the sea from the infinity pool. On the cape, lying on the white coast, is the sanctuary of the same namebuilt on a pre-existing temple of Minerva and reconstructed in the 18th century. According to the ancients, the cape was the 'end of the Earth'. Legend has it that Saint Peter preached here when he landed in Italy.

Up the Adriatic side is the port of Otranto within the Terre d'Otranto. Today, this name is used for the narrow strip of coast belonging to the eastern Salentine that overlooks the Canale d'Otranto - the sheet of water bewtween Italy and the Albanian coast. This is a long, partly hilly, partly flat area, divided between the provinces of Brindisi and Lecce: the masseria is a common sight  - often fortified, being constructed on land that used to be plagued by pirates.

Terre d'Otranto can still be considered a Greek 'island' and those visiting it and the environs will note the characteristic Hellenic spirit in the monuments and popular traditions. The 'Greekness' of Otranto is also present in the langauge: in some villages, the Salentine people still speak Greek.