Discover the heart of Puglia

TERRITORY

A path to "dive" in the Adriatic Sea, but also in the green Itria Valley, between. Trullis and old farmhouses (masserie). An area on the borderline between the provinces of Bari, Brindisi and Taranto, among thousands of olive trees and native vineyards where you can find and discover ancient tastes and ancient knowledge. A stretch of Puglia full of archaeological parks and museums, but also events repeated for centuries. What with a warm welcome and the "pleasure" of being able to taste typical dishes of country cooking, served with fragrant wines of the Itria Valley and seasoned with incomparable extra virgin olive oil. Walking in the Baroque old town of Martina Franca, the traveler will be guided by the restaurant kitchens scent where he will enjoy an excellent spicy capocollo of Martina Franca, cooked on Balkan oak wood, and toast to the beauty of this land with a glass of sparkling Martina Franca wine of designated origin. Itria Valley: a land so rich in wine that it's impossible not to try them all. Here our traveler, enchanted by the streets of Rione Monti in Alberobello, will treat himself with a sparkling IGT Valle d'Itria red wine, a tasty appetizers such as eggplants in olive oil mixed with capers in vinegar. Continuing along the old towns of Cisternino and Locorotondo, at dusk the white color of the houses reflects the fiery red sunset, a sight that mustn't be missed. After that, the proverbial sense of reception of the local hosts is expressed with a tasty piece of white tripe rolls of Locorotondo cooked with onion, peel of pecorino cheese and tomatoes in earthen pots called "pignatte", obviously served with the inevitable delicate taste of Locorotondo wine of designated origin. In the morning, the traveler fresh and ready for new explorations, will prepare himself for a long excursion among the Caves of Castellana, the result of underground river hollowing over thousands of years (see RockCivilzations And Medieval Banquets). A lunar landscape that is hidden between the so called "Grotte della Civetta" and "Grotta del Presepe" (Caves of the Owl and Cave of the Nativity), and the beautiful "Grotta Bianca" (White Cave) at the end of which our visitor will feel the need to freshen up with a mature barattiere cucumber with a crispy pulp and tender center. In the end, browsing through the enormous heaps of stones called "'specchie" near Ceglie Messapica, the traveler will reach the charming old town, where thinking of his family at home, he will buy the fragrant biscuits of Ceglie Messapica with toasted almonds, filled with delicious cherry jam or sour black cherry jam and covered with delicious sugar icing and cocoa.

FOOD

Meat: Capocollo of Martina Franca

(typical pork meat), white tripe rolls

of Locorotondo

Vegetable products: Barattiere

(typical cucumber), capers in vinegar,

eggplants in oil, early fig of Pezze di

Greco 

Home-made pasta, bakery and pastry

products: Biscuit of Ceglie Messapica

Registered Designation of Origin

Products: Martina Franca wine of

designated origin, Locorotondo wine

of designated origin

IGT products (or Typical Geographical

Mark products): IGT Valle d'Itria

PDO products (Protected Designation

of Origin products): PDO Extra virgin

olive oil

EVENTS AND FESTIVALS

August: Alberobello, International Folk

Festival

July and August: Locorotondo, Locus

Festival

11th to 15th of August: Cisternino,

Alterfesta

June: Fasano, la scamiciata:

rievocazione storica del 2 giugno 1678

(Historical Memorial Day)

June and July; Martina Franca

Festival of the Itria Valley

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