The historic center of Ostuni
For those arriving from the sea, the historic center of Ostuni appears magical, a vision that enchants for the orderly scansion of the houses, harmoniously modeled on a hill overlooking a vast plain of olive trees, not far from the sea. A city with a thousand-year history, in which each structure, each wall, each stone can tell a different event.
The town is located on the most advanced offshoots of the south-eastern Murge, of the southern Apennines and has about 33,000 inhabitants. It is 7 kilometers from the sea and its coastline extends for about 20 kilometers. It is called the Crib City or Queen of Olives, but it is better known as the White City, due to the fact that the old part of the city is strictly painted in white, with lime. The ancient core winds along the steep sides of a hill, surrounded by walls and Aragonese towers. This nucleus is dotted with winding and narrow streets, squares, alleys and towers. The main street of the Earth, Old Town, is the one that starts from Piazza della Libertà, reaches the Cathedral; and for this reason called Via Cattedrale; The Cathedral stands on the top of the hill and contains Romanesque, Gothic and Venetian elements, one of its precious elements is the Rose window, which dominates the main facade. Ostuni is a well-known tourist center thanks to the cleanliness of the waters, its coast and its services offered. After the capital, it has always had the largest territory, the borders with the neighboring municipalities are precise and determined by natural characteristics, by ordinary roads and by dry partition walls. According to some scholars, the etymology of the term Ostuni derives from the Greek “Astu neon” (New City), with allusion to a more recent city, rebuilt on the remains of the ancient one. In fact, the origins of its population, the prehistoric testimonies, dating back to the Upper Paleolithic, culminate in the discovery of Delia, the skeleton of a pregnant woman found in the Grotto of Santa Maria di Agnano in 1991. contracted and the head covered with a cap studded with small shells, apparently the young woman belonged to a group of hunters. This discovery was made by Prof. Donato Coppola. The cast of this burial is now located at the Museum of Preclassical Civilizations of Southern Murgia, in the historic center of Ostuni.The presence of a Messapian settlement is confirmed by the remains of a wall that defines an elliptical plan area, still recognizable in the perimeter with dry stone and brick walls, of the so-called vegetable garden area, evenly distributed on the slopes of the hill.The city, one of the most important in the Terra d’Otranto, founded its wealth on the production and trade of oil, favored by the port of Petrolla, now Villanova, established by the Normans.Ostuni lies on three hills and offers enchanting and unrepeatable views … four doors that gave access to the city, two of which are still visible, albeit modified and rebuilt, it is Porta San Demetrio oriented to the east and Porta Nova to the west.The territory towards the sea, is called Marina, is flat, where there are thousands and thousands of olive trees or secular, that of the interior is undulating and takes the name of Selva. Very extensive are the beaches with beautiful sandy shores, perfumed by rosemary, thyme, salt and waves that break along the cliffs. The trullare heritage is very important, only Ostuni and Alberobello have the so-called Trullo Sovrano, which insists in the “Li Sierre” district. There are many rock settlements, the Basilian crypts, which still preserve precious frescoes; furthermore, on the outskirts of the city, there are five sanctuaries, a destination for writers, poets and pilgrims. The population up to 50 was dedicated almost exclusively to agriculture, in fact there are about 300 farms in the territory, considered the wool, meat and grain factories and had a decisive role in the city economy, some of these now become homes luxury where to stay. Ostuni also known as the White City, due to the characteristic color of its houses, of the historic center, entirely painted with lime, we can define it as, a lime village among the centuries-old olive trees, thus revealing its ancient soul, which attracts and fascinates.
