Surroundings
Trulli Petralma: in the heart of the Itria Valley
Cisternino is a fascinating example of spontaneous architecture, where there are wonderful perfectly preserved trulli and historic buildings, such as the Governor’s Palace, the Bishop’s Palace, and the Capece Tower.
The area around the town is characterized by the presence of the Boschi Comunali, the largest vegetation formation in the entire province, and the Ciclovia dell’Acqua, a 500-km cycling and hiking route that winds through the Mediterranean maquis and is the second largest aqueduct-based bicycle route in Europe.
Trulli Petralma are about 10 km from Martina Francaa fine town famous for its Baroque architecture and nestled between the land of Taranto and the Itria Valley, and from Locorotondoa town a little more than 400 meters above sea level, also included among Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages, characterized by a circular shape and the dazzling white of its dwellings.
Trulli Petralma are located about 14 kilometers from Ostunione of the most famous towns in Apulia, known as “the White City,” over which the 15th-century Co-cathedral dominates and which is situated between the Itria Valley and Alto Salento, as well as from Ceglie Messapicaone of the oldest towns in Apulia, with a charming historic center, clearly medieval in style and considered the gastronomic capital of Salento.
Less than twenty kilometers from Trulli Petralma is Alberobello, known worldwide as “the capital of trulli” for the highest concentration of best-preserved trulli (there are more than 1,500 of them) and included since 1996 among the UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Just a few kilometers from Trulli Petralma is the town of Fasano,n enchanting medieval village at the gateway to the Valle d’Itria and Salento, formerly defended by a wall with eleven defensive towers, which stretches across an area rich in numerous “masserie,” abandoned or renovated, and close to the Selva di Fasano, a huge and vast forest typical of the Mediterranean maquis and rich in pines, oaks, holm oaks and cypresses. Nearby are the Zoosafari of FasanoItaly’s largest wildlife park (the second largest in Europe), which, with its 140 hectares, is the realm of biodiversity and welcomes and preserves, in complete freedom, animals of all species, which can be observed through various paths, and the Archaeological Excavations of Egnaziawhich testify to the importance of Egnatia , the ancient Roman city of strategic importance for the economy of the time, whose excavations have unearthed the ancient Via Traiana that led all the way to Rome, the city’s defensive walls and the very ancient necropolis of Messapic origins.
From the center of Cisternino and, therefore, from the Trulli Petralma complex one can easily reach the coasts of the Adriatic side, whose nearest beaches are about a 20-minute drive away (those on the Ionian side are about an hour’s drive away). The sea of the Itria Valley boasts about 40 km of coastline with wonderful beaches on a stretch of Upper Salento coastline known as the “Riviera dei Trulli“, which runs from Savelletri to Torre Guaceto, where dune beaches and Mediterranean scrub, sandy bays and cliffs alternate.
Skirting the archaeological park of Egnatia, one arrives first at Savelletria fishing village known for its small seaside restaurants where one can eat freshly caught urchins and other fresh seafood dishes, then at Torre Cannewhere one can enjoy a long sandy beach and spring water lakes that feed the local thermal baths, among the best known in the region. From Pilone, a locality with light-colored sand, begin the shores of elegant Ostuni, such as the beach of Torre Pozzelle, a few kilometers from Ostuni, characterized by beautiful coves with crystal-clear water and rocks surrounded by the scrub of wild vegetation. This stretch of coastline alternates between sandy stretches and inlets with coves and rocks, in a jagged coastline that reaches Costa Merlata.
Continuing on you reach Torre Santa Sabina, a beautiful crescent-shaped bay with a shallow seabed, white sand and turquoise sea reminiscent of the Caribbean. till following the coastline you reach Torre Guaceto, an Aragonese coastal tower that gives its name to the locality on which it stands, and the National Marine Protected Area (Torre Guaceto Nature Reserve) a wetland of international interest and WWF oasis. In these inlets alternate sea bays, ponds and woods, in a fantastic natural area of the Adriatic coast surrounded by large olive groves: a perfect place for hiking, biking, horseback riding, diving or enjoying the beaches in an atmosphere of absolute tranquility and quiet.
