TOUR ITINERARIES
Among Trulli, Caves and Sea
Lenght: 192 km - page 2 of 2

BARI

Bari is the chief city of the region and it is on the Adriatic sea, at the centre of the coast of Puglia. It is the biggest city of the region and the second most important one of the Mezzogiorno area. This city appears now as a modern commercial metropolis.

It is an interesting city to visit; there are many charming things to see: architecture, archaeology, religious sites, roman cathedrals, evidences of the times of Federico II of Svevia, theatres, universities, important fairs, cultural traditions and above all a wide and rich countryside, with almond trees, olive trees, vines and cereals. All of this is then surrounded by the sea. A suggestive walk along the beautiful Walls of the Bari old town starts from the old dock, over Cristoforo Colombo promenade. Passing by Piazza del Ferrarese and Piazza Mercantile, you get to S.Nicola Basilica, in the heart of the old town centre, near which there also are S.Gregorio church, S.Marco church, S.Sabino Cathedral and the Svevian Castle in Piazza Federico II, outside the wall, that is the seat of the provincial gallery of plaster casts. The Crusades Street is also very nice and it evokes past expeditions to the Holy Land.

The “muratian” area instead was built in a nineteenth century style, developing itself as a chessboard, with straight streets that intersect. It is on the southern side of the the old town centre, from which it is divided by Corso Vittorio Emanuele. An interesting visit of the modern part of Bari starts in Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and goes along the smart Via Sparano, heart of the city with refined and valuable shops.
There is Mincuzzi Palace, built in 1920, with its stately shape, and
the lovely S.Ferdinando church. From via Sparano you can get to Umberto I Square, a green area over which the stately Ateneo Palace towers. In a part of this palace there is the Archaeologic Museum, constituted in 1875, in which there is a collection of documents and findings of historic and cultural importance to know and study the apulo-grecian culture of Daunia (Foggia), Peucezia (Bari) and Messapia (Salento).You can then go along via Cavour, on the left side, where there are noble palaces, such as the Chamber of Commerce (XIX cent., but it has been abandoned) and the peculiar Petruzzelli Theatre, that burned in 1991 and is now being rebuilt.

POLIGNANO A MARE

From Bari, you take the coast road (toward Mola di Bari) and you get to Polignano a Mare (34 km far away- 24 mt high, 15.849 inhabitants), that is on a wonderful sheer drop from the cliff to the sea, where there is a deep gully. Because of the morphology of the territory there are many caves that were formed by the action of water and wind.

You shuold visit: the Palazzese Cave with its wide terrace , surrounded by a beautiful green-bluish sea; and a wonderful inlet called “Cala Paura”, not so far from the old town centre. Suggestive lanes, beatiful terraces falling sheer on the rocks, little white houses and yards are other peculiar things to see, expecially some artistic beauties such as: the main church, consecrated to the Assuption; S.Vito village and ancient rural houses.

MONOPOLI

Driving for 35 minutes along the numb. 16 highway for 46 km you get to Monopoli, a town on the Adriantic sea, at the foot of the Murgia area. This is an important fishing site with 47.000 inhabitants and it has a trapezoidal plan. Monopoli borders with the territories of Castellana Grotte, Fasano, Polignano a Mare and Conversano and it has a great archaeological importance.

The main sites are: Grotta delle Mura, one of the most important Paleolithic sites of the central area of Puglia; Capitolo: there are some Neolithic findings and also some Roman and Messapic material; the Peucezi city: with Diria findings; Masseria Donnaloia: where they found some dark red pottery handcraft from the Metal Age; the Lame. The old town centre clinges over the sea and it is fastened by Aragonese walls. It has medieval origins, as you can see looking at the urban and social structure and at the ancient houses facing the dock. There are massive walls all around the town and three gates: Porta Nuova (near Largo Plebiscito), Porta Vecchia or Foca ( Built under the reign of Bisanzio Emperor) and Porta Castri (in Largo Vescovado). Other monuments to visit are the beautiful Palazzo Palmieri, from the XVIII cent., and the Castle, that is a stately building of the time of Federico II of Svevia and is settled on a headland called Punta Penna. Other important and precious monuments of the historic and artistic town estate are the churches, expecially the country and the rupestrian ones. The most important one, however, is the beautiful Cathedral, one of the most expressive examples of Baroque
art in the territory of Bari. Inside it, there is a rich museum with precious Romanic, Dalmatian and Venetian sculptures.

EGNAZIA E FASANO

From Monopoli our itinerary goes toward Fasano, driving along the excavations of ancient the Egnazia (11 km far away), which are the ruins of a Messapic and Apulean town.

Egnazia excavations

You can visit part of the ancient walls and the acropolis. Outside the walls, you should then visit the museum, in which there is the wonderful Three Grazie (Graces) mosaic (II and III cent. a.C.). When you get to Fasano (6 km far away- 108 mt high, 38782 inhabitants), a town on a weird position at the bottom on the south-east part of the Murgia area, you can take a walk in the ancient part of the town, with a visit to the main church, consecrated to S.Giovanni; to the sixteenth century University Palace and to the wonderful Malta Knights Palace. This itinerary goes on making an excursion to an area called Selva di Fasano (5 km far away), with a landscape made up of carob trees, woods and mastic trees. In the end you should visit the “Safari Zoo”, one of the most important zoos of Europe.

OSTUNI

Going further from Alberobello, you can take the way to the suggestive “white town” of Ostuni (26 km far away-218 mt height, 33.551 inhabitants), that lies over the last part of the Murgia area.

A peculiar walk along its peculiar stairs and tangled lanes, on which the typical white houses overlook, obliges you to stop and visit the beautiful Cathedral, consecrated to the Assunta, and also to visit the stately Town Hall and the Museum of Preclassical culture of the meridional Murgia area. Another important place to visit, besides the peculiar restaurants, are “Ostuni Marine”, like Villanova, where you can visit the XVI cent. castle; then Marina of Ostuni and Monticelli, where there are the remains of an ancient village from the Bronze Age.

CISTERNINO

Once visited Ostuni, you can go on toward Cisternino (24 km far away- 393 mt height, 11951 inhabitants) that is on the south-east side of the Murgia area. This small and smart town lays down over a green hill, surrounded by a fertile soil and refined by the typical trulli.

There is a short walk along a suggestive labirinth of white lanes above which little arches stand. Here you can get a chance to see some of the different artistic beauties of the wonderful old town, starting from the old main church, consecrated to S.Nicola, and then looking for some valuable palaces (the Governator palace, the Baron palace). Going out of the centre, you should visit the dolmen of Masseria Ottava.

Texts: Italiainrete - Pictures: Database and web

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