An experience every day
Art and history / The wonders of nature
While staying at Dimora 1783 you can visit wonderful places in Puglia without having to pack your bags each day. We offer daily excursions to discover the better known but also the more hidden treasures of our region.
An experience every day
Art and history / The wonders of nature
While staying at Dimora 1783 you can visit wonderful places in Puglia without having to pack your bags each day. We offer daily excursions to discover the better known but also the more hidden treasures of our region.
↓
Art and history

1. Locorotondo
One of the most beautiful small towns in the heart of the Itria Valley, the name indicates the characteristic circular form of Locorotondo. The sloping roofs (called cummerse) of the small houses give the town a particular fairy-tale charm. Locorotondo offers a spectacular balcony view over the Itria Valley, with its rich territory of vineyards, drystone walls and olive groves. The historic centre is romantic and intimate, where one can wander around the narrow dazzling white streets immersed in the scent of flowers and wafts of traditional cooking.
From Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, the path winds along past the Town Hall (Palazzo del Comune), now the public library, the baroque Palazzo Morelli and the main church (Chiesa Madre). On reaching Largo Belvedere, a breathtaking view awaits, sweeping over the whole valley dotted with trulli, from Ceglie Messapica to Martina Franca.

2. Martina Franca
15 min. (7 Km)
Locorotondo’s neighbour, the elegant Martina Franca, emanates an aura of nobility. Within the stately buildings and monumental baroque churches emerging from the narrow streets of the historic centre are masterpieces by artists of the eighteenth-century Neapolitan school.

3. Alberobello
15 min. (9 km)
This is the “trulli capital”, listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site. To walk among the more than one thousand trulli that line the steep streets of the town is an unforgettable experience, a journey through time in a place like no other.

4. Cisternino
15 min. (9 km)
Leaving Locorotondo, along a country road surrounded by clusters of some of the most beautiful trulli in the area, one comes to Cisternino. A labyrinth of arched narrow streets and low houses with outside steps facing hidden courtyards. From the panoramic vantage point in the public gardens, one has a wide vista of the valley with its many vineyards, olive groves and old country estates.

5. Ostuni
35 min. (26 km)
Known as “the white town” for its lime-washed houses, Ostuni nestles on three hills in a panoramic position that offers stunning views both of the countryside scattered with centuries-old olive trees and of the sea.
Going up the steep streets of the historic centre, lined with handicraft shops and small restaurants, one comes to the heart of the town, dominated by the Romanesque-Gothic Cathedral and its enormous rose window; a fifteenth-century masterpiece of outstanding beauty.

6. Lecce
1 h e 15 min. (105 km)
Also called the “Florence of the South”, Lecce is the main town in the Salento and capital of the Baroque. It is impossible not to be impressed by the grandeur of the portals, the façades of the numerous churches in Leccese stone crafted by master stonemasons. The splendour of the Baroque style reaches its zenith on the façade of the Santa Croce Basilica and in the Cathedral square, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful in Italy.

7. Matera
1 h e 20 min. (78 km)
Now famous throughout the world, the sassi [stones] of Matera still astonish millions of visitors. A town built on stone, defying the laws of architecture, which testifies to a history of thousands of years, a captivating experience that is impossible to forget.

8. Taranto
45 min. (40 km.)
The city of two seas.
Don’t miss visiting the fifteenth-century Aragonese Castle and the MArTA (Archeological Museum of Taranto): a journey to the roots of southern Italy through the material evidence of people who lived here from prehistoric times to the late medieval period. As well as the centuries-old jewellery for which MArTA is known throughout the world, one can also admire, for example: the Venus of Parabita (two statuettes from 18,000 BC), the Athlete’s Tomb (500 BC) and many other things besides.
The wonders of nature

1. Castellana Grotte
30 min. (25 km)
Among the most significant caves not only in Italy but also in Europe, those of Castellana are spread over a length of 3,3348 metres and reach a maximum depth of 122 metres from the surface.
A guided tour of the caves winds along a path of about 3 km and 70 metres deep, through underground canyons full of stalactites, stalagmites, fossils and millenary formations of the most remarkable shapes and sizes.

2. Bosco di Sant’Antuono (Mottola)
30 min. (28 km)
The Sant’Antuono wood is a spectacular place, with stretches of ancient oaks and numerous unusual and splendid plant species, such as wild orchids. Its very biodiversity is one of the reasons why glow worms, at risk of extinction, favour this place to live and reproduce and light it up to amazing effect in the summer months.

3. Riserva Naturale delle Pianelle (Martina Franca)
25 min. (20 km)
The Bosco delle Pianelle oriented regional nature reserve is a natural protected area located in the municipality of Martina Franca, in the province of Taranto, and occupies 590 hectares. It is rich in karst caves; its flora population is characterized by fragno oak, downy oak and tall holm oak trees. The fragno oak groves in the wood are enhanced by the vegetation – rare plants of splendid peonies, hornbeams and various species of wild orchids.

4. Pomona Botanical Gardens (Cisternino)
10 min. (5 Km)
A memorable historical and botanical biodiversity tour. The principal collection is devoted to Ficus carica, of which there are 600 fig species: Afghan, Bosnian, French, Portuguese, Albanian, Israeli and naturally Italian, including Puglia. The collection is one of the most important in Europe and the Mediterranean basin, for its quality and variety.
Ph Credits: I Giardini di Pomona

5. Torre Guaceto nature reserve
45 min. (50 Km)
The Torre Guaceto state nature reserve is a natural protected area located on the Adriatic coast of the upper Salento, a few kilometres from the towns of Carovigno and San Vito dei Normanni and 17 km north of Brindisi. The Carovigno coastal areas in the reserve, the beaches of Torre Guaceto and Punta Penna Grossa, have been awarded the famous Blue Flag (*) in recent years.
(*) International Blue Flag Programme of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE)

6. Aqueduct cycle route
10 min. (7 Km)
A one-of-a-kind nature trail – nearly 230 km of existing tracks to enjoy the views of Puglia’s luxuriant countryside by bike

7. Park of the Coastal Dunes and the plain of ancient olive trees (Ostuni)
30 min. (25 km)
The territory of the Regional Park of the Coastal Dunes stretching from Torre Canne to Torre San Leonardo not only houses many species of flora and fauna but also has a wealth of assets of historical and archaeological interest. These are typified by the dolmen (megalithic tombs); rural churches with a thousand years of history; underground olive oil mills; and other ancient settlements such as crypts, dwellings, stalls and sheepfolds (jazzi) formed within the caves at the sides of the natural furrows going down to the sea.