Recent Articles
Puglia
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Polignano a Mare in Puglia – A Little Town with a Big Reputation
Polignano a Mare in Puglia certainly lives up to its name ‘at sea’ as it is perched on the white cliffs of a rugged coastline. Its origins date back to the fourth century when Greek settlers founded the city of Neapolis. The city continued to flourish when the Romans. So much so that the Roman Emperor Trajan built his Via Traiana through the town ...
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Some Highlights of Bari in Puglia - From Fish to Fortifications
"Bari may be a large commercial port and the capital of Puglia in Southern Italy but I had no sense of this when I arrived there. I was immediately drawn towards its attractive sea front which I made my starting point ...
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A Walk around Trani in Puglia – A Joyful Experience
I felt light-hearted as soon as I got out of the minibus in Piazza Mazzini in Trani, a coastal town in Puglia. The sun was shining and little white clouds scudded past the vacant windows of the gleaming white facade of the Church of San Luigi...
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Otranto in Puglia - A Surprise Package
Like many towns in Puglia, Otranto, a pretty coastal town, has a mixed and colourful past. It was established as an important port by the Greeks which was later used by the Romans. It has been ruled by the Byzantines, the Normans and the Aragonese ...
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Top Ten Memories of Puglia
Field after field of olive trees carpeted with colourful wild flowers and mile upon mile of beautiful natural coastline is my overall memory of this beautiful region but my recollections do not end there…
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More about Monopoli and beyond
Like the charms on a bracelet small coves snuggle into the rugged coastline that stretches out south of the old town of Monopoli in Puglia a region of Italy. They are all accessible on foot or by bicycle from the lungomare (promenade) that hugs the seaside or by the road that runs parallel to it…
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Monopoli's Old Town - Pretty as a Picture
It was thrilling to stay in an apartment in the old town of Monopoli and to take part in the daily dramas. One day, from our windows, we watched a small lorry, only six inches narrower than the street, take thirty minutes to reverse down it, accompanied by a lot of sighing and shaking of heads and some well meant but hardly practical advice...
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Bountiful Baroque in Lecce, Puglia
I gazed into the familiar green face way above me framed by an azure blue sky – I was in Piazza Sant’Oronzo in Lecce, it was Sant'Oronzo (Saint Horace) who I had already met in Ostuni ...
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Ostuni, the White City of Puglia
The view of Ostuni from the railway station was stunning, white buildings crouched on top of a hill. But – it was five kilometres away...
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Trulli Alberobello
The trulli in Puglia could be the earliest recorded tax evasion scheme. The use of drystone walling was imposed on the builders of new settlements in the area from the fourteenth century as they could easily be dismantled and then re-built later after the tax inspector had gone.