A painter headed to Puglia should be not forgetting a strong, shiny colours’ palette: milky white for the limestone that covers houses, cathedrals and trulli,  silverish-green for the foliage of olive trees piercing the celestial sky and breaking off with the deep blue sea. And then bright golden yellow for the rolling wheat fields of Tavoliere plains, lush green for the Gargano woods, red for the cherry tomatoes and ruby for the wines of Puglia.  

As this region occupies a strategic position on the Mediterranean hosting the ports which bridged the Italian Peninsula to the East and being the door of the Adriatic Sea, Puglia has experienced many dominations throughout its history: Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Normans, Venetians, Spanish among the others. Each dominator left its mark either in the artistic heritage or in the civilisation: the contact with such different ethnic groups and cultures has scattered the Apulian territory with archaeological findings, medieval mysterious castles, guard towers, the most striking flowery Baroque cathedrals, urban and rural buildings built in a vast and sometimes bizarre range of styles, reinterpreted by the peoples of Apulia, who created an authentic “stone culture” of their own all to be discovered. 

And the Pugliese peculiarity can be found in its original cuisine with it symbol, the orecchiette, a pasta made by “dragging” the dough with the thumbs on a rough surface and shaped in little ears. You’ll have it served with turnip greens and fresh ricotta washed down with a glass of Negroamaro.

Take your time, you are in magic Puglia!