Puglia - A Quirky Paradise

 Please God Make It Stop

We struck off for Puglia negotiating the same terrifying road used for our ascent. Yes, it was still raining.  Intermittently, but determinedly three and a half hours later we turned into our next VRBO in Cisternino. Finally! Our lodging was located in a charming little village of Trulli houses (more in a minute) and the Guest house sat perched on a hill.  From our patio we looked out over the Valley of Itria which was blanketed in red poppies and yellow and purple wildflowers.  Our host Giovani was wonderful and life was good.  Except for laundry.

Menacing skys greeted us at our Cisternino accommodations.

  Those of you who follow the blog know that we seem to have challenges with laundry. Incomprehensible European washing machines.  Incomprehensible laundromats.  Laundry left behind... it goes on.  Well, here is the Italian thing,  They all seem to suffer from a pathological avoidance of clothes dryers.  It is not that they can't afford them.  It is not that they don't have room for them.  Frankly, I don't know what the problem is but it is certainly annoying when you have been traveling for weeks in somewhat unremitting rain.  Finally, in Syracuse, we capitulated and did the wash and then shared the living room with a cumbersome drying rack for days as our clothes dried at a glacial pace.

Trulli Houses are Truly Cool (Couldn't help it)

On our first day in Puglia it was, of course, still raining but we headed directly to Alberobello - the epicenter of Trulli architecture.  Trulli (singular Trullo) are corbeled limestone structures with a  unique appearance as you'll see in Michael's photos. Trulli have been present in Southern Puglia since the 1400's and 1,500 of them still exist and are lived in in Alberobello today.  Beyond this they are scattered throughout the countryside as was true in our village. 

They are constructed with double walls with rubble placed between the walls.  That is true of the roof as well and the "topper" on the roof provides a water seal.  These houses are constructed entirely without mortar which is pretty impressive.  Michael and I saw similar structures in the Dordogne in France last year but never in such numbers.  The trulli served as shelters and storehouses in the fields or as dwellings for small landowners.  Michael's photos show the trullo of a major landowner which consisted of numerous rooms.  This landowner had complete control over the small farmers who worked the land and could, with any or no justification, move in and destroy their trullo and force them to move on.  Today, most of the trulli in Alberobello have been :"modernized" while retaining their architectural integrity.We found the town so interesting we returned the following morning to investigate a different part of the village which encompasses 11 hectares.

This very simple Trullo house was next to the parking lot.

Much more elaborate trulli were seen throughout Alberobello.

This roof had sprouted an accumulation of lichen.

The doorways of each Trullo...

took on their own distinctive look,...

despite, or because of the sameness of the trulli.

Another Italian hill town that required walking up or down.

Colorful flowers lined the outside of this Trullo.

Following the ancient custom, some of the Trulli had symbols painted on the conical shaped roofs.

On the way back from our first visit to Alberobello we spotted this field of poppies...

which we saw an abundance of during our Italian trip, but never so many together as here.

On our second visit to Alberobello we saw the Parrochia Santuario Basilica S.S. Cosma E Damiano (Saints Cosma and Damian are the patron saints of Alberobello).

This is the outside of Trullo Sovrano (Sovereign), because it is the only two story Trullo.

It was originally built in the first half of the 18th century by the wealthy family of a priest.

The Trullo has served as a court, chapel, grocer's shop, monastery, oratory and finally a private dwelling.

In the early 1800s it was home to the relics of Cosmo & Damian, the patron saints of Alberobello.

The steep stairs leading up to the second story.

This Trullo owner obviously enjoyed potted gardening and sharing the garden with passersby.

As we were leaving the rain came once more and we headed for the shelter of the sculpted trees.

Trullis galore!

We moved on from Alberobello to Ostuni--the "White City.  An absolutely beautiful town perched atop a significant hill-- it was once more time to get our billy goat on and ascend.  We try to get out early in the morning to avoid the worst of the tour group crowd and we had a peaceful hour or so sipping cappuccino  and watching a funeral at an adjacent church.  People, even in Italy, don't dress for funerals anymore.  Shocking. And then they came.  Tour group after tour group with small flags flying in the breeze.  Just a word here.  It was "shoulder season (May) and we were in a "forgotten corner" of Italy and still the tourist quotient was astounding.  So, if you are traveling this summer brace yourselves.

Beyond being just flat out beautiful, Ostuni is known for its ceramics.  We window shopped and actually caved and bought a small piece unique to Ostuni.  By that time the tourists were circling like sharks and we realized it was time to retreat.  We visited Martina Franca briefly and Brindesi where we had a very nice lunch but not much to report on either of them in terms of unique sites or memorable experiences.

Ostuni seemed to have a surfeit of churches, from Santa Maria del Monte Carmelo...

 

to San Francesco d'Assisi (where we witnessed a funeral in process)...

to the magnificent Santa Maria Assunto.

The ornately carved stone rose window...

and the equally ornate painted ceilings

were a marvel to behold.

This shows how Ostuni got its name as the White City.

However, Lecce, our next stop, was filled with unique sites.  This is a beautiful town (maybe a city) featuring fantastic Baroque architecture.  Your head just swivels as you walk through the narrow, winding streets.  Michael's photos of the Cathedral will reveal the level of ornamentation and detail that is found throughout the town.  After the Cathedral, our next stop was the Jewish Museum.  It was interesting in many ways.  First, there are no Jews in Lecce.  A non-Jewish family felt it was important to highlight the role the Jews had played in the town prior to their expulsion in 1492.  Many headed to Greece and others to Northern Italy which was not subject to the excesses of that period. 

The baroque Basilica Santa Croce was completed in 1695.

It's rose window was even more ornate...

and the detailed stone carvings on the exterior showed the craftsmanship of the stone carvers.

The wooden caisson ceiling with the inset painting was spectacular. The construction on the basilica started after the Jews had been expelled in 1510.

 No Jews returned to Lecce until the end of WWII when a large resettlement camp was located outside the town.  Apparently the townspeople readily adopted the refugees supplying them with food, clothes and medical care.  Whether it was guilt over being part of the Axis powers, guilt over the expulsion or just human kindness is hard to tell.  Anyway, they all left for Israel and once again no Jews lived in Lecce.  We met a Dutch woman there who was saying that the Netherlands is grappling with how to come to peace with their attitudes toward the displaced persons who ended up in Holland after the war.  Apparently their experiences were less welcoming.  She said that when they were finally released from the camps the refugees were fined for past taxes.  Hmmmm.

Onward to the Museo Faggiano. This is a pretty fun story.  A family was suffering from a recurrent plumbing problem involving sewage.  The owner proceeded to rip up the floor to access the pipes.  When he did he discovered layers of archeological finds dating back 2,000 years.  Layer by layer the father and his sons continued to excavate and discover not just the history of the house but of the town.  Michael's photos will display what we saw and provide some context.  You entered on the street level but soon realize that 2,000 years ago that floor was on the second level and the basement was on street level.  They just kept building on top of previous buildings.  A brief, but excellent, guide led you through the four levels of the building.  I think this was the best museum we saw on the whole trip.

Some of the detailed tile work uncovered during the excavation.

This is a photo looking up to the floor from the bottom. Deirdre declined to take the winding stairs down, being content to wait for the photo.

Peering through the break in the stones reveals a whole other room.

Looking down to one of the cisterns.

In an upper room were artifacts uncovered during the excavation.

While more modern, the detailed needle work on these chair cushions caught our attention.

This old wooden bicycle was outside the museum.

The Cave of the Poets

About a half hour south of Lecce resides the Cave of the Poets.  I was not prepared for what an amazing place this was. Ha, Amalfi Coast! Take this!  There is a peninsula sticking out into azure blue waters with cliffs falling off on all sides. As you walk to the point you pass a series of caves and, honestly, I was thinking it was pretty pedestrian cave-wise until we got almost to the point.  There below us was a Grotto with water rushing in from a gap in the rocks with each wave.  Young people (as opposed to us) had descended a treacherous  staircase, then climbed up a boulder, and then threw themselves into the water. 

 

The column of Madonna of Roca Vecchia was on the grounds of the Cave of the Poets.

Beneath the column was the Madonna who appeared in the cave of the Basilian monks.

The water in several karst caves attracts swimmers to this area. Note the steps on the upper right leading down.

You can view the sea in the background, with the water flowing under the rock above. One person took the shortcut jumping from the rock on the left, rather than taking the stairs.

As you can see the water was crystal clear.

The Torre dell'Orso was a defensive structure and watchtower from medieval times. The beach on the far side of the tower is one of the most popular on the east coast of Italy.

We'll leave you with this view of the Adriatic and the cliffs, as we head on to our next adventure near Bologna.