I loved Puglia – had an unforgettable Audrey Hepburn moment (remember Roman Holiday ?) tripping across a beautiful square in medieval Monopoli on a beautiful sunny morning saying ‘Buon Giorno’ to everyone I passed with responses singing out across the square ! Wonderful ! This girl could get used to living in a place like this and starting her day with happy exchanges, a laugh and a smile…
Monopoli has it all: a medieval centro storico (historic centre) with narrow cobblestoned streets and whitewashed houses, a baroque cathedral, a Venetian style palazzo overlooking blue painted fishing boats, a castle and the remains of the sixteenth century town walls complete with cannon.
Add to this a town beach with crystalline water, a further two beaches within a five to ten minute walk and several more stretching down the coast, accessible by car or bus, and it becomes apparent that this could be the ideal holiday destination. The centro storico is undeniably picturesque and the combination of the pale golden tufo, used as a building material for centuries, a blue sky and a sparkling sea is magical in the right light. There are enough churches to explore to keep any art historian happy and enough good restaurants to please any gastronome.
Despite this it is very untouristy with washing hanging from every other window in the centro storico and there is a thriving daily fruit, vegetable and fish market and the restauraunts, cafes and bars are predominantly packed with locals rather than foreign visitors. In August, the town’s population appears to almost double. Most of the visitors are Italian weekenders from nearby Bari or families from the North of Italy and even this influx doesn’t significantly detract from Monopoli’s charm.
There are only a few holiday villages, modern hotels or nightclubs and these are strung along the beaches of Capitolo or situated elsewhere on the outskirts of town. Monopoli is also known as the citta delle cento contrade or city of the hundred districts. It extends far into the countryside with little hamlets surrounded by the olive and almond groves which have made this area relatively affluent throughout its history. The soil here is a deep orange colour and contrasts beautifully with the silver grey and green of the olive trees and the low, dry stone walls which mark property boundaries.
Starting from the Porta Vecchia, just beyond the old town walls, a series of rock edged coves with sand in the middle follow the coast round. The last of these, Santo Stefano has a ruined monastery on the headland and the remains of roman baths which you can see if you swim round the point. Around a 10-15 minute drive from town the Capitolo area starts, a very long stretch of white sand beach, divided up into separate beaches with something for everyone, water sports, family beaches or fashionable beaches with elegant bars and mood music. At night the area comes alive with beach bars and clubs. There are private beaches with rows of sun loungers and umbrellas but also plenty of free beaches (packed in August, not cleaned before May or after early October).
Nearby towns include Polignano and Conversano. Alberobello and Ostuni are about a 30 minutes drive away. Bari (airport) around 40 minutes. The zoo safari at Fasano (great for kids) is around 15-20 minutes drive, the grottoes at Castellana around 20. Lecce and Matera are around 90 minutes away by car.
View more photos of my trip on the Elysian Holidays Facebook page.
