Trip of the week: the languid charm of summers in Puglia
Perched on the very edge of Europe, this southern Italian region has an island-like feel
Owing to its growing popularity with foreign tourists, it’s been described as “the new Tuscany” – but the southern region of Puglia, the heel of the Italian boot, is radically different from its northern counterpart, says Stanley Stewart in Condé Nast Traveller.
Perched on the very edge of Europe and all but surrounded by the sea, it feels like an island – “a place apart” – its white “cubist” houses reminiscent of North Africa, its labyrinthine towns of the backstreets of Istanbul. It is gritty, “raw edged” and “flooded with ocean light”, and its climate is so warm that people from elsewhere in Italy come here to sunbathe in October. They are drawn by its food, too, and by its “simplicity”. Puglia to them is “dolce far niente – the sweet languor of doing nothing”.
Although one of the poorest regions of Italy now, it was once “the centre of the known world”. Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Venetians and Turks all came here “in search of fame and fortune”. And the memory of those days lingers in the “echoing” palaces and “barn-like” churches in its towns, and in its ancient fortified farmhouses, or masserie, many of which have been transformed into luxury properties. In Salento, the region’s southernmost stretch – a “stark, bony place” where wild figs, pomegranates and “contorted” olive trees grow in profusion – ancient watchtowers gaze across the Adriatic towards the mountains of Albania.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
On Salento’s west coast, the beautiful city of Gallipoli sits on a promontory “like a ship, halfway to Africa”, and along its east coast lie glorious towns such as Santa Maria di Leuca, where St Peter is said to have landed on his way to Rome. But the “star turn” not only of Salento but of the whole of southern Italy is Lecce, “the Florence of the south”, a city “like a film set”, with great restaurants, contemporary art galleries, and some wonderful and unusual baroque architecture.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Political cartoons for October 26Cartoons Sunday’s editorial cartoons include Young Republicans group chat, Louvre robbery, and more
-
Why Britain is struggling to stop the ransomware cyberattacksThe Explainer New business models have greatly lowered barriers to entry for criminal hackers
-
Greene’s rebellion: a Maga hardliner turns against TrumpIn the Spotlight The Georgia congresswoman’s independent streak has ‘not gone unnoticed’ by the president
-
Roasted squash and apple soup recipeThe Week Recommends Autumnal soup is full of warming and hearty flavours
-
6 well-crafted log homesFeature Featuring a floor-to-ceiling rock fireplace in Montana and a Tulikivi stove in New York
-
Film reviews: A House of Dynamite, After the Hunt, and It Was Just an AccidentFeature A nuclear missile bears down on a U.S. city, a sexual misconduct allegation rocks an elite university campus, and a victim of government terror pursues vengeance
-
Book reviews: ‘Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife’ and ‘Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong With Baseball and How to Fix It’Feature Gertrude Stein’s untold story and Jane Leavy’s playbook on how to save baseball
-
Rachel Ruysch: Nature Into ArtFeature Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, through Dec. 7
-
Music reviews: Olivia Dean, Madi Diaz, and Hannah FrancesFeature “The Art of Loving,” “Fatal Optimist,” and “Nested in Tangles”
-
Gilbert King’s 6 favorite books about the search for justiceFeature The journalist recommends works by Bryan Stevenson, David Grann, and more
-
Ready for the apocalypseFeature As anxiety rises about the state of the world, the ranks of preppers are growing—and changing.