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At the attractive fishing port of Trani, the sea provides
a backdrop to the Cathedral, famed for its elaborate west portal and bronze
doors. Here we shall be staying at a former 16th-century convent, now
a charming hotel. Further up the coast is Barletta, known
for the ‘Colossus’, a 4th-century bronze statue of an unknown
emperor. We continue to Castel del Monte, the octagonal
hunting-lodge and retreat of Frederick II, ‘Stupor Mundi’.
After lunch at a farmhouse, we will visit Ruvo di Puglia,
with the privately-owned Iatta Museum, a fine collection of antiquities,
and a Romanesque cathedral in the distinctive Apulian style. Many of these
churches have intriguing Byzantine and Saracen features, as we shall see
in the Duomo Vecchio at Molfetta; San Nicola at Bari,
earliest and most influential of the Norman churches, and at Bitonto.
We will travel to the neighbouring region of Basilicata to see the extraordinary
rock-cut dwellings and churches of Matera, known as ‘I
Sassi’, with UNESCO consultant Pietro Laureano. In the 17th-century
Palazzo Lanfranchi we will see paintings by Carlo Levi, author of the
celebrated ‘Christ stopped at Eboli’.
Our second hotel is a country villa on the edge of the 18th-century town
of Martina Franca, overlooking the almond and olive groves
of the Valle d’Itria. There will be time to explore and enjoy this
elegant, prosperous place, with its Ducal Palace and collegiate church
of St Martin. We will have lunch with the President of an organisation
dedicated to the preservation of the architecture and landscape of Puglia.
Nearby are the ancient Greco-Messapian city of Egnathia
(Egnazia), Conversano with its Norman castle and the
‘white’ town of Ostuni. We will see the famous
trulli of Alberobello and, after lunch at a Michelin-starred
restaurant, walk in the characteristic town of Locorotondo,
visiting the church of San Marco della Greca.
We travel south to Taranto to visit the recently re-opened
Archaeological Museum, with its superb collection of Attic and Apulian
pottery and gold jewellery. Stopping in Manduria to see
the cathedral dedicated to St Gregory the Great and the Jewish ghetto,
we come to our final hotel, a converted masseria outside Otranto.
Here we will admire the great mosaic pavement of the Cathedral and the
simple Byzantine church of San Pietro.
Baroque Lecce offers a complete contrast
to medieval Puglia, its streets and squares lined with honey-coloured
limestone palaces and churches, with extravagantly carved decoration.
Exploring Lecce, we will see the Cathedral, Santa Croce, the Roman amphitheatre
and the Castle built for Charles V. We will be received for lunch at a
private villa with a large garden. The vivid 14th-century frescoes in
the church of Santa Caterina at Galatina and a walk in
the unspoilt old streets of Gallipoli conclude our exploration
of the Salentine peninsula. On the last evening we have arranged dinner
at a privately-owned castle dating from the 15th century.
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PRICE
l £2,490
The cost includes accommodation in a comfortable hotel in Trani (3 nights),
a first-class hotel in Martina Franca (3 nights) and a comfortable hotel
in Otranto (3 nights); economy class air travel London (Heathrow) / Milan
/ Bari : Brindisi / Rome / London (Heathrow) by scheduled services; ground
transport by private coach; all meals except three dinners; guides; taxes;
entrance fees and the services of a lecturer and a tour organiser.
Price without flights £2,315
l Single room supplement
£320
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