Picturesque and all to discover is Ostuni, the White City. Renowned tourist destination, boasts a wonderful medieval village, full of narrow streets. Among the white alleys of the village it is easy to see why it is called “the White City”: each house is painted white with lime paint.
Renowned tourist center, from 1994 to 2017 it received the Blue Flag and the five sails of Legambiente for cleaning the waters of its coast and for the quality of services offered, becoming the city with the cleanest sea in Italy. Moreover, in 2005, the Puglia Region recognized the municipality as a “tourist resort”.
A walk in the old town, called the “earth” to distinguish it from the more recent “marina”, offers picturesque views of alleys, steep steps, courtyards and squares overlooked by white houses embellished with geraniums, artisan shops, typical restaurants and shops.
The historic center
Beaches near Ostuni
With 17 Km of beaches, alternating dunes covered with ancient junipers, sandy beaches, rocks, Aragonese watchtower and seafaring boroughs, Ostuni offers a wide choice of beaches able to satisfy even the most demanding. The coast of Ostuni, along with its countless beaches and pristine coves, will allow you to experience a spectacular holiday from every point of view. An advice we can give you is to book well in advance because these beaches are always sought after in the summer months. The municipal administration of Ostuni has identified 2 public bau beaches where our 4-legged friends are allowed.
The Regional Natural Park of the Coastal Dunes
The Park with its numerous natural habitats, extensive arable land, protagonists of projects to protect crops with biological methods, the centuries-old olive groves; the Via Traiana, the archaeological sites of historical-cultural importance, the historical farms and the underground oil mills, the blades, the rock settlements, the receptive structures and the production companies in Marchio del Parco, the inhabited centers: a complex territory rich in values to safeguard and promote, an area in which the Regional Natural Park of the Coastal Dunes, among the most interesting in Southern Italy, plays a role of environmental protection and sustainable economic development of particular relevance.
Grotte Castellana
La Grave probably originates in the Upper Cretaceous, about 100 million years ago, when our region was submerged by an ancient sea where shellfish and vegetables lived. The shells of these animals, then deposited on the bottom of the sea, gave life to a pile of mud and sand, then compressed and became the thick calcareous base, several kilometers. The subsequent raising of the land has brought out this base, where fractures were created, in which the river water with intense rainfall, formed an underground aquifer that has dissolved the limestone, creating small ducts and leading to the extraordinary panorama that we now have the privilege of being able to observe.
The Picasso showing in Ostuni
It is titled «Picasso. The other half of the sky»the exhibition project that will involve three historic places in Puglia: Palazzo Ducale in Martina Franca, Palazzo Tanzarella in Ostuni and the castle of Mesagne: a unique path that embraces under the hat of the Apulian baroque three important places of the Tacco d’Italia.What drives one of the most influential and revolutionary painters of the entire history of art, Pablo Picasso, to touch the Apulian coasts? Probably the sea and the sun of this land, which looks so much like its Spain, and which will host, from 24 April to 4 November 2018, an unmissable exhibition dedicated to the genius of the Catalan artist.