Puglia, and even more so the Valle d’Itria, are also known for their excellent culinary offer. All within one of the most characteristic villages of the Upper Salento, Cisternino, not far from Masseria Baroni Nuovi, it is possible to savor the taste of a unique tradition in the world.

Perched on the Murgia dei Trulli, Cisternino is one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, where you can walk through the alleys paved with chianche and enjoy grilled meat in one of the so-called “stoves”.

These others are but butchers equipped with oven and small rooms where you can taste the “gnummareddi“, the livers, or the delicious bowls with veal slices, simple or stuffed with caciocavallo, integrated and skewered on a spit in the company of a good glass of wine. 

Imagine the alleys softened by the flowered balconies and the whitewashed houses, intoxicated by the inviting smell of the meat cooked in the brace according to tradition in the typical wood-burning oven.

But Cisternino is not only this.

Here the Orange Flag is waving, the environmental tourism quality mark of the Italian Touring Club intended for small inland towns that stand out for their offer of excellence and quality hospitality.

Cisternino is characterized by good accessibility and management of the internal road system that allows you to visit the historic center on foot. The ancient heart of the village is harmonious and architecturally homogeneous.

Porta Grande was the most important gateway to the ancient heart of Cisternino. Walking on the “chianche” made shiny by the trampling you enter the dense urban fabric of medieval imprint remained almost intact.

You can follow the road that leads to Porta Piccola, through the airy Piazza Vittorio Emanuele with its beautiful Clock Tower. Or you can dive into the authentic atmospheres of the four districts of “Bère Vécchie”, “Scheledd”, “u Pantène”, “L’ìsule”, which with the outermost one, called “u Bùrie”, make up the small maze of streets and open spaces where whitewashed houses alternate, alleys adorned with geraniums, stairways, loggias and arches.

In the historic center you can also admire the historic houses, from the Governor’s palace, a beautiful example of Baroque in Puglia, to the sixteenth-century bishop’s palace, from Palazzo Amati to Palazzo Lagravinese, up to Palazzo Ricci-Capece with the Torre del Vento.

Further ahead the convent of the Capuchin monks with the church of Sant’Antonio, the Church of San Quirico and the Matrix dedicated to San Nicola di Patara, built in the fourteenth century on an early Christian church.