Puglia — the long heel of the Italian boot — has been growing in reputation among independent travellers for a decade, and yet it still functions differently from the better-known parts of Italy. There are no major art cities here in the sense of Florence or Rome. The coastline is not the Amalfi. What Puglia offers instead is something more difficult to categorise: a landscape of extraordinary agricultural beauty, a tradition of Baroque architecture that reached its fullest expression in Lecce, a collection of prehistoric and medieval monuments unlike anything else in Italy, and food that is rooted in the land in ways that Michelin stars tend to obscure.
The region runs for 400 kilometres from the Gargano promontory in the north to the tip of the Salentine Peninsula in the south. The central zone — the Valle d’Itria, sometimes called the Trulli Valley — contains the iconic circular stone houses with conical roofs that define the region’s visual identity. They were built from the local limestone in a technique that requires no mortar, which meant they could be disassembled quickly. One popular explanation is that farmers dismantled them to avoid property taxes; a more convincing explanation is simply that the local stone, available in abundance, was the most practical building material. Either way, the result is a landscape unlike anywhere else in Italy.
The olive groves of Puglia are among the oldest cultivated landscapes in Europe. Some of the trees along the road between Monopoli and Ostuni are estimated to be 2,000 years old — gnarled, massive, still producing fruit. The region produces approximately 40 per cent of Italy’s olive oil. In autumn, the harvest pulls in workers from across the south.
In This Email:
The Heel of Italy — A Slow Travel Guide to Puglia - This guide covers five places that give a complete picture of Puglia, from the trulli district at the centre to the Baroque south and the Adriatic coast.
Alberobello and the Trulli District
Ostuni: The White City
Lecce and Southern Baroque
Polignano a Mare
Castel del Monte
Suggested 5-Day Itinerary
When to Visit Puglia and how to get there
