SHARRYLAND
Ostuni: beyond the sea, there is more!
The White Queen of the last offshoots of the southern Murgia
Where is
What it is and where it is
Its profile can be recognized from the coast as you look across the sea of olive trees to the hillside: proud and haughty, Ostuni manifests itself in all its whiteness, blinding by day and reassuring as a lighthouse at night, Alleys and stairways follow one another in a labyrinth of a thousand shades of white, with unexpected glimpses of the marina and the plain of millennia-old olive trees. When you reach the Borgo, nothing is as you had imagined! Spaces widen showing small courtyards and squares, stairs divide what seemed united, and you get lost in the white, an experience that dilutes time and leaves you feeling like you haven't discovered everything yet!
Why it is special
Walking through the historic center of Ostuni is like taking a journey through time, crossing the historical eras drawn between the stones of the streets. The important thing is to forget the places beaten by tourists and get lost among the ancient palaces, their portals made of carparo, "the gentle stone," and the altars of the churches. The gaze encounters houses, arches, staircases, porches and balconies that tell the story spaces and landscapes modulated over time to meet ever-changing needs. And it is in this overlapping of eras and styles that one can find the atmosphere of ancient times and village life.
Not to be missed
The walk on the avenue built close to the city walls (Lo Stradone for the Ostunians, Viale Oronzo Quaranta for everyone else) is to be taken with your feet on the ground and your nose in the air, to admire on the right the ancient walls, completely readapted to the needs of daily life (have fun discovering how they were used), on the left the sea of olive trees and, in the background, the coast from Monopoli to Brindisi. Some real surprises are hidden in the ancient walls, such as the apse of the church of St. James of Compostela, whose entrance is on Continelli Bixio Street, and the remains of an ancient oil mill.
A bit of history
Greeks and Romans were not the first to arrive in Ostuni, but it was the latter who developed olive cultivation in the area from the Messapian and Greek traditions. For many centuries, Ostuni was the site of settlements and raids by various peoples, and was bartered and ceded several times. During the few periods of tranquility, Ostuni saw the construction of defensive walls, the cathedral and coastal towers. Thus, it is not possible to recognize a unique imprint in the structure of the city, which retains significant traces of monuments from the different periods of its history.
Trivia
"Ostuni stands on three hills": this is what you can read in numerous sources and can see from the town's coat of arms but, where are the three hills? Easy to guess that one is represented by the historic center with its apex in the Co-cathedral, but what about the others? Actually Ostuni is situated on a plateau in which there are rises and depressions, and the coat of arms is nothing more than a symbolism purely indicative of this up and down. Some of the height differences, moreover, have been bridged over time by new road and building requirements, so now, although there are still many uphill (and downhill) roads, it is somewhat difficult to distinguish the different peaks.
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