The plain of ancient olive trees
The plain of ancient olive trees is the top surface of a large sandstone-calcarenite bank that slopes gently down towards the sea. Its morphological and visual boundary, to the west, is formed by the slope of the Murgia plateau, which is particularly imposing and steep and almost completely covered in woodland vegetation, and which, starting from the centre of Ostuni, towards the south-east, gradually descends until it fades into the Brindisi plain.
To the north-east, the boundary is formed by the coastline, whose morphology is complicated by an alternation of low, sandy stretches – from Torre Canne to Torre S. Leonardo and by extensive stretches of high coastline particularly indented by wind and marine erosion from Torre Guaceto to Case Bianche. A system of coastal dunes still rich in vegetation and sporadic wetlands runs parallel to the coast. This longitudinal system is interspersed with numerous parallel “lame” (land erosive cracks) which, crossing the plain from north-west to south-east, open onto the coast in small sandy inlets.
The structuring element of this landscape is the olive grove, which is clearly prevalent and present with a high density of centuries-old trees with irregular planting patterns, proving the historical nature of the planting and its uses. Vines and arable crops are also present, interrupting the predominantly uniformity of the olive grove with more regular fields. A dense system of dry stone walls emphasises the delimitation of the fields and the network of farmsteads connecting the numerous farms.
The settlement system is characterised by two main linear discontinuous subsystems. The first, internal, has the Adriatica as its main axis, along which the centres of Fasano and Ostuni are arranged, one at the foot and the other at the top of the ridge, and both in a dominant position on the plain.
The second subsystem is made up of coastal settlements, which have sprung up, sometimes from very small existing nuclei, near coastal towers or small harbours, as tourist centres and second homes, favoured by the E55 motorway which, running parallel to the coast, forms the backbone of a comb-shaped system of roads linking the junctions to the centres.
The two main systems are connected and integrated by a third subsystem, secondary to the first two, made up of small settlements, including productive ones, resting on the old inland-coast connection roads (which now reach the coastal centres), especially where the railway stations have functioned as small local attractors.
