Through the small streets of southern Italy – Part 1

I have always dreamed of walking through the beautiful southern Italy through the beautiful medieval towns and small narrow stone streets, where you can fully immerse in the surrounding and feel the magic of Italian culture and cuisine.
The trip was ambitious, as the goal was to gather our high school company, now ruthlessly scattered in 4 different countries. And during a pandemic and with constantly rising media storms of black statistics. The plan did not work out to the maximum, but quite appropriately, gathering 6 people from Berlin, Zurich, Frankfurt and Sofia. The next time we meet again all together will probably be for a wedding, given that our previous full gathering was 3 years ago at mine, and the previous one was in 2012, when we graduated from high school and everyone went on their own path.

Let’s get back to Italy. It turned out to be one of the most favorable destinations to host our ambitious idea and cheerful company, offering cheap, even very cheap flights from almost all over Europe almost daily with our low-cost friends from Wizz and Ryan Air.
Thirsty for adventure, we rented a car and set off in pursuit of the beautiful ancient cities of Puglia (the region we were in is known as the “The hill of the boot”). We saw almost nothing from Bari, but I honestly think that the surroundings offer much more once you leave the big city.
The plan was 4 nights – 2 on the south in Lecce, 1 in Martina Franca because of its location in the middle and the last in Bari. In the meantime, we visited several natural landmarks, 4-5 ancient towns, of which 2 beautiful places, completely protected by UNESCO and worthy of your attention and sighs. In the following lines I will briefly tell about these places and will share some impressions and recommendations.

Matera

Matera remained my favorite place from the trip. “Sassi di Matera”, the old town is very impressive! It dates back more than 9,000 years and is recognized as one of the oldest permanent settlements in the world. It recently became popular with the new Bond moovie, which features footage from there. You fall into another time and dimension, and the scale itself is significant. We spent almost all day in Matera and the time was not enough, I would recommend you to see it overnight  in order to be able to peacefully wander the small streets. The whole place reminds me of Minas Tirith from The Lord of the rings – an ancient fortress with thick walls, several rings and a significant displacement between the levels. Architecture is very captivating to me and sends me to another reality. Unfortunately, but also justified, the place is very touristic. I think it will be a pain in the active season, so now (October-November) is the perfect time to visit. Temperatures are between 12 and 21 degrees and it is very sunny and pleasant.

Opposite the town through a picturesque canyon and a small river is Parco della Murgia Materana – a hill with carved churches and shrines, which lead to narrow winding paths. There are remains from several epochs ago and if you like walking, you can make an hour, an hour and a half hike from the Matera fortress to the top of the hill and watch the evening Matera. The displacement is significant, but you can get there by car.

Alberobello

I had seen pictures of this place years ago and wished I could visit it one day. I didn’t know its name or location until I stumbled upon it a few months ago. The town is also protected by UNESCO and is quite touristic, but the visit there is certainly worth it. It is characterized by its pointed houses, called “trulli” with lined stone slabs for the roof. It somewhat evokes references to Santorini, and it is possible, as Puglia has historically been quite strongly influenced by Greece and there are even quite a few locals who speak Greek in the area.

We had booked an overnight stay in Martina Franca, which is nearby and is a more budget option, but after visiting Alberobello, I would recommend you to find such a small house. The place itself turned out to be bigger than I expected. Although we went far after the tourist season, there were an awful lot of people and it was crowded, so I highly recommend you not to go there in the tourist season, it will probably be more pain rather than pleasure. Even at the moment it is on the border for me. The place is very beautiful in the evening, when the whole town shines in yellow and green.

Both places have no entrance fees and are free to visit. Little miracles for me that created warm memories. Their fame is not exaggerated and I wish everyone to go and enjoy them in combination with local cuisine and wine.

If you want to read about other amazing small towns of Puglia, you can find my impressions and tips here.