800 km of coast, from Salento to the Gargano, a spectacular seaboard with caverns, bays and creeks, bordered by a crystalline sea, which in 2013 has been rewarded the European Blue Flag e the 5 Veils (Cinque Vele) of Legambiente: this is Puglia. In less than 10 minutes with the car from the Masseria Il Frantoio Ostuni, there are the beaches with finest sand of magnificent Parco delle Dune Costiere.
The countryside around our Masseria in Ostuni is famous for the presence of the monumental olive trees, well known to those, who in the XVI century build the fortified manor farms to oppose the attacks of the Saracen pirates. Quoted by Aristoteles and protected by the constitution of the Athenian, the olive trees tell the vicissitudes of life and of the passing of time, some bent by the wind, some teared to pieces by the lightnings, others nubby and twisted, smiling or thoughtful. Some say that they talk during the night and.. they have a lot to tell us.
Born as spotting places to protect the coast, besieged by the Saracen and as instrument of defense against the bandits, the manor farms with the passing of time transformed into independent centers of agricultural production, than into admirable structures of shelter for travelers from all over the world. The Masseria Il Frantoio in Ostuni is a brilliant example for this, since it is one of the first in the area to be converted to an agritourism and today to a residence for those who love authentic experiences, with firm roots in the past and all the comforts of a luxury hotels Puglia.
Easily recognizable thanks to its white-painted houses, its narrow alleys and the wonderful seascapes, Ostuni sits on three hills and it has an old city center clustered atop high ground facing a valley lined with olive trees. The coastline, which stretches over as many as 20 kilometers (12.4 miles), presents dreamlike sunsets and fascinating beaches. Apulia’s clear sea, which has often received the Blue Flag and Legambiente’s Five Sails (Cinque Vele) designations for its cleanliness, is only 6 kilometers (3.73 miles) away. After dark, Ostuni turns into a small village all lit up to reveal its picturesque and romantic side.
The Valle D’Itria (the center of the world!) is a widespread hill patterned by gentle karst latches, as karst is the area of which it constitutes the heart: the Murgia dei Trulli, one of the best place to visit in Puglia. Its toponym derives from the byzantine orient, in remembrance of our Lady of Odegitria, the one who shows the way. There came many visitors to whom show “the right way”, in this land at the Mediterranean sea, millennial place of encounters and collisions between peoples of different and distant origins.
A lively and multi-colored landscape, in which three colors emerge: green like the thriving nature, oak plantations, olive tree groves, vineyards; white like the milk of lime, which coat after coat paints in white the Trulli, the manor farms and the ancient hamlets; finally red like the color of bolus, the characteristic ground which, for its properties, while covering the soil with a thin layer allows a blooming nature.
The first one is national reserve near Ostuni, the other one a regional park, but both are places of protection and conservation of an inestimable natural and cultural patrimony and characterised by the presence of Mediterranean scrub, avifauna and humid zones. Different are the possible activities to contemplate and assimilate the beauty, the rarity and the ecological importance of the places.
