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Itineraries and tours | Wine and Food | Doc Wine from Carsic Murgia
The itineraries along the karst Murgia plateau move in a variety of towns and traditions: a journey full of history and curiosity.
Castellana Grotte: This itinerary starts from Castellana Grotte in the Murgia plateau. The Castellana karst caves are the largest in Italy, discovered in 1938.The tour to this site - about 3 km long - winds through caves and chasms with evocative names.
Putignano: next stop on the itinerary is the town of Putignano, famous for its carnival, the longest in Italy: it begins on December 26th with the "Propaggini" religious holiday, and ends on Shrove Tuesday. Apart of the carnival, Putignano offers attractions in every season, inside the massive city walls and around the circular towers built in 1472, some of which still surround the city. Less than a km from the town, along the road towards Turi, it is certainly worth a visit to the Grotta del Trullo.
Noci: The journey through the flavors and colors of the Murgia stops in Noci, a town full of culinary traditions and home to several dairies where you can buy local dairy products. You will soon notice several butchers along its street, which, when they have great selection of fresh meat, display a sign outside the butchery ("cooker ready"). This means that you can choose among different cuts of meat that will be cooked and served inside the butchery itself. The town offers, in addition to a rich cuisine, several other interesting places to visit, such as the Collegiate, the XIX century mill that houses Tommaso Fiore Literary Park.
Gioia del Colle: Next stage of our journey is Gioia del Colle, another famous town for its excellent dairy products, as well as the remarkable Norman-Swabian Castle, which on the ground floor houses the National Archaeological Museum. In the old town are worth to visit the Teatro Comunale, built in 1841 and the church dedicated to Madonna della Neve.
Acquaviva delle Fonti: it owes its name to the presence of perennial springs. Worth a visit is the elegant old town with its beautiful cathedral, rebuilt in 1100 during the Renaissance period, one of the four palatine basilicas in Apulia. In Piazza dei Martiri there is the XVII century Palazzo del Principe De Mari. Built according to Baroque style, currently is the seat of the Town Hall. Two curious festival that take place in this town are: “Festa del pallone della Madonna di settembre”, a 150 years old religious festival where a hot air balloon is crated every year; the food festival dedicated to the famous local red onion and calzone (a kind of stuffed pizza) tasted with a spicy ricotta, that take place at the end of October. For a long time the production of onions (with a characteristic sweet taste due to nature of the land) was one of the main agricultural products of the territories.
Cassano Murge: it is an attractive small town situated in the green oasis of the Mercadante forest. The sanctuary Madonna degli Angeli is built on a cave, while the old town is structured along charming narrow streets. It is very interesting, inside the sanctuary, the polychrome stone nativity built in the XVI century, probably by the sculptor Stefano da Putignano.
Santeramo in Colle: it owes its name to the cult of St. Erasmus, whom the cathedral is dedicated, built at the beginning of XVIII century, with a baroque facade. The medieval old town gathers around the ruins of a Benedictine monastery and the Romanesque Carmine church. Santeramo is also interesting for its rural landscape and for its culinary tradition, in particular for its horse meat. On June 2nd there is religious festival dedicated to St. Erasmus with an historical horse-riding held late in the evening, fireworks and hot air balloon launching. Between Santeramo and Altamura, there are interesting archaeological finds such as dinosaur footprints, some of them still in perfect condition, in a site called Cava Pontrelli.
Altamura: a beloved town of Frederick II, with a very attractive urban structure. The bread of Altamura, much celebrated by Horace, is made with the exclusive use of natural yeast (sour dough), salt and water. It is stone backed and can have different shapes. In 2003 Pane di Altamura was granted PDO status within Europe. Visit one of the many bakeries, where you can smell the history through ancient stone buildings. The tour of the city can start from the ruins of the megalithic walls dating to the V century BC. Corso Federico II di Svevia crosses the old city. You will admire, in Piazza della Repubblica, the churches of San Biagio and San Nicolò dei Greci and then reach the heart of the city, the Piazza Angioina dominated by two stone lions of the Cathedral of the Assumption. Built in the XIII century under the reign of Frederick II, the cathedral has been modified over the century. From the main square we suggest to discover the narrow street of the old city, stop at a bakery and admire the characteristic claustri (yards), original examples of local urban typology scattered throughout the center. Impossible to miss is the State Archaeological Museum, in Via Santeramo, with a permanent section dedicated to the Man of Altamura, found in 1993 in the cave of Contrada Lamalunga, a skeleton of a man dating back to the Middle Pleistocene. Leaving the town center, on the road towards Bari, the Pulo, a large sinkhole, is worth a visit. The pulo is normally originated by the collapse of the ceiling of an underground cavity. With its 90 meters depth, is one of Europe's most important sinkholes, inhabited since the Neolithic period.
Gravina in Puglia: At this stage we suggest to reach the nearby Gravina in Puglia. Built on the edge of a cliff, Gravina has a number of interesting sights to visit, such as the historical town center, the Cathedral and the Pomarici-Santomasi Museum, which holds frescoes and beautiful examples of rupestrian works of art, dating to the XII and XII centuries. The museum, full of XVII and XVIII century’s furniture, holds a collection of archaeological artifacts from the excavations held on the Botromagno archaeological area. After visiting the museum is worth to visit the rupestrian churches along the rocky ridge of the Gravina stream, and on the archaeological site of Botromagno. There are caves as large as basilicas – San Michele delle Grotte, for example - or like an oratorio - the crypt of San Vito Vecchio – that make up an archaeological and environmental park of great interest. Frederick II of Swabia, the enlightened Emperor, elected Gravina as his hunting lodge so that he built a castle whose ruins are visible on top of a hill. Do not miss to taste the famous Verdeca wine, a sweet sparking white wine produced exclusively in Gravina.
Toritto: it is other ancient town, as testified by the discovery of graves dating to the IV and the V century BC, during the Peucetian period. It was a Norman feud until the XI century, and then it went under the influence of Altamura. Toritto still have the castle in the main square, as evidence of that era. Characteristic of the town is via Ettore D'Urso (formerly “Strada dell’oliva dolce” Sweet Olive Road), in the old town, with wide sidewalks on which, traditionally, it still in use the tradition of laying the almonds to dry in the sun, a typical product of Toritto.
Adelfia: the current town was originally made by two distinct towns: the Norman Canneto and Montrone, once a Greek settlement. The rivalry between the two towns is such that, until not long ago, marriage was forbidden between members of the other town. A visit to Adelfia will then offer two distinct town centers: in Montrone you will see the XIV century Marchesale Castle and the church of Santa Maria del Principio (1086), while in Canneto you’ll visit the church of Maria Santissima della Stella, built in 1086, and the Norman tower. The town boasts a curious record: 70% of the rural area is dedicated to vineyards.
Rutigliano: it is famous for one of the most original art craft of the region, namely the “terracotta whistles”, today cult objects and famous collectables item all over Italy. The art of ceramic is closely linked to the history and nature of the territory, which is very rich in clay, as testified by the many valuable archaeological finds dating from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages, found during the archaeological excavations. Some artifacts are kept in the local museum, such as an IV century BC cockerel, considered the prototype of the current whistles. There are several shops in which you can buy whistles with many different shapes. In the middle of January, it takes place the Festival of whistles. Rutigliano is also famous for the production of table grapes, which is exported around the world.
Conversano: it is another center of considerable agricultural importance. It has one of the most beautiful Norman castles in the area, a pretty town center, where you can admire the cathedral, dating to the XIV century. Visit the XI century church of San Benedetto, and the one dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian. Not to be missed is the cycle of paintings representing episodes inspired by the Jerusalem Delivered. Painted by Paolo Finoglio in the first half of the XVII century, the 10 paintings are kept in Town Hall, open for the public in the morning, Monday to Friday.
Turi: it is a farming town of considerable importance. Archaeological finds around the city testifies that the area was inhabited as early as the VI century BC. The town has the typical Mediterranean features: small cozy houses, whitewashed walls and narrow streets. The first structure of the Palazzo Marchesale dates back to 1068: it was first conceived as a Norman-Swabian fortress, and later restored by Baroni Moles in 1547. But the most important monument in Turi is the church of San Rocco, built around the XII century: it is the best preserved specimen of a sacred place, even in the traditional roofs made with chiancarelle (little stones) recalling the trulli. Typical of the town is the religious festival dedicated to St. Horace, which takes place every year on the evening of August 26th, to commemorate the healing from plague, an event which occurred in 1656. It has been mentioned the importance of agricultural products in this town. In fact it is renowned for varieties of fruits like cherries and peaches: the cherry productions is very flourishing, with the local variety called “Ferrovia” and “Bigarreau” exported in Italy and in many European countries. The “percoco”, a local variety of peach, is instead a hybrid spontaneously born from two very popular varieties of peaches.
Sammichele of Bari: its gastronomic symbol is called “zampina”, a sausage with tomatoes and spices, preferably barbecued. To this local food specialty is dedicated, for over thirty years, one of the most popular festivals of the province of Bari, on the last weekend of September. Thousands of people crowd the narrow streets of the historic village to taste, in addition to the “zampina”, the “ghiemeridde” (meat rolls stuffed with liver and intestines), dairy products, the “fecazze a livre” (a kind of focaccia of Serbian origin, seasoned with olive oil, salt and oregano). The architectural landmark of Sammichele is, however, Palazzo Caracciolo situated in the homonymous square, which also houses the Dino Bianco Farming Museum, with an interesting documentation of the handicrafts and rural life. The castle instead was built during the late Middle Ages. Worth a visit are the XVII century church of Maddalena, while outside the town the ruins of the Abbey of Sant'Angelo in Frassineto.
1) Castellana, Putignano
2) Noci
3) Gioia del Colle, Acquaviva
4) Cassano Murge, Santeramo in Colle
5) Altamura
6) Gravina
7) Toritto
8) Adelfia, Rutigliano
9) Conversano, Turi, Sammichele
All year around
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