Puglia
You'll see Castel del Monte, an inhumanly exact geometric shape on a hilltop, from miles away. Mysterious and perfectly octagonal, it's one of southern…
Must-see attractions in Puglia, Basilicata & Calabria
Otranto
Mosaics, skulls, crypts and biblical-meets-tropical imagery: Otranto's cathedral is like no other in Italy. It was built by the Normans in the 11th…
Valle d’Itria
These spectacular limestone caves, 40km southeast of Bari, are Italy's longest natural subterranean network. The interlinked galleries, first discovered…
Bari
Bari's signature basilica was one of the first Norman churches to be built in southern Italy, and is a splendid (if square and solid) example of Pugliese…
Lecce
It seems that hallucinating stonemasons have been at work on the basilica. Sheep, dodos, cherubs and beasties writhe across the facade, a swirling…
Matera
Dating in its earliest parts to the 12th century, St Peter's, the largest of Matera's rupestrian churches, overlays an ancient honeycomb of niches where…
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Museo Nazionale di Reggio Calabria
Reggio Calabria
Over several floors in Southern Italy's finest museum you'll descend through millennia of local history, from Neolithic and Palaeolithic times through…
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Lecce
Descend through Lecce's rich historical strata in this fascinating home-turned-museum, where sewerage excavations led to the chance discovery of an…
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Museo Archeologico di Santa Scolastica
Bari
Housed in a well-preserved 16th-century defensive bastion, this excellent museum reopened in late 2018 and features a superbly curated overview of the…
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Museo Nazionale Archeologico di Taranto
Taranto
Sitting unassumingly in a side street in Taranto's new town is one of Italy's most important archaeological museums, chiefly dedicated to the archaeology…
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Matera
This giant cistern, arguably as magnificent as a subterranean cathedral, is one of Matera's great sights. Lying under the city's main square with arches…
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Matera
Highly recommended as a precursor to visiting the sassi themselves, this wonderful 25-minute multimedia exhibit, spread across three rooms of a 16th…
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Tempio di San Giovanni al Sepolcro
Brindisi
This 12th-century church, a brown bulk of Norman stone conforming to the circular plan the Templars so loved, is a wonderfully evocative structure,…
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Calabria
This excellent museum focuses on the historical, cultural and natural heritage of the park. Highlights include the use of interactive video screens to…
Trani
This dramatic seafront cathedral is dedicated to St Nicholas the Pilgrim, a Greek Christian who wandered through Puglia crying 'Kyrie eleison' ('Lord,…
Chiesa di Madonna delle Virtù & Chiesa di San Nicola del Greci
Matera
This monastic complex, one of the most important monuments in Matera, comprises dozens of chambers carved into the tufa limestone over two floors. Chiesa…
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Basilica di Santa Caterina d'Alessandria
Salento
Most people come to Galatina to see the incredible 14th-century Basilica di Santa Caterina d’Alessandria. Its interior is a kaleidoscope of frescoes and…
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Museo Nazionale di Locri Epizephyrii
Calabria
Situated 3km south of modern-day Locri, the Greek colony of Locri Epizephyrii was founded in 680 BC, later subsumed by Rome and finally abandoned…
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Lecce
Giuseppe Zimbalo's 1659 reconstruction of Lecce's original 12th-century cathedral is recognised as being among his finest work. Zimbalo, Lecce's famous…
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Salento
An aperture on the Ionian coast below Castro leads into the magnificent stalactite-festooned Cave of Zinzulusa, one of the most significant coastal…
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Lecce
This fascinating museum outlines the Jewish history of Lecce and the greater Salento region. Entry is by 30-minute guided tour only, running every 45…
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Museo del Succorpo della Cattedrale
Bari
This subterranean museum beneath Bari cathedral reveals well-preserved remnants of an ancient Christian basilica and various Roman ruins. This fascinating…
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Parco Nazionale dell'Aspromonte
Calabria
Most Italians think of the Parco Nazionale dell’Aspromonte as a hiding place used by Calabrian kidnappers in the 1970s and ’80s. It’s still rumoured to…
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Tropea
Tropea's number-one photo opp is Santa Maria dell'Isola, a medieval monastic church given several facelifts over centuries of wear and tear (mainly…
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Chiesa dei Santi Nicolò e Cataldo
Lecce
The beautiful church of Saints Nicolò and Cataldo, located in the monumental cemetery outside the city walls, was built by the Normans in 1180. It got…
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Museo della Scultura Contemporanea
Matera
The setting of this fabulous museum of contemporary sculpture – deeply recessed caves and the frescoed rooms of the 16th-century Palazzo Pomarici – is as…
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Tropea
There are spectacular views from this rocky cape, around 7km south of Tropea, with its beaches, ravines and limestone sea cliffs. Birdwatchers' spirits…
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Matera
For a great photograph of the sassi, take the Taranto–Laterza road (SS7) and follow signs for the chiese rupestri. This road takes you to the Belvedere,…
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Lecce
The beautifully restored 15th-century Monastery of Santa Chiara houses this civic museum and gallery, and has a great view of the Roman theatre from the…
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Lecce
A notable 15th-century church given a baroque makeover between 1687 and 1691, Santa Chiara is one of the most important and admired churches in Lecce…
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Taranto
The 11th-century cathedral is one of Puglia's oldest Romanesque buildings and an extravagant treat. It's dedicated to San Cataldo, an Irish monk who lived…
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Calabria
Italy’s largest national park, the Pollino National Park, straddles Basilicata and Calabria. It acts like a rocky curtain separating the region from the…
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Promontorio del Gargano
One of Italy's largest national parks, a place of sweeping coast and deep, ancient forests, sits on the spur of southern Italy in Puglia, jutting out into…
Bari
Built over the original Byzantine church, the 12th- to 13th-century Romanesque cathedral, dedicated to San Sabino, is technically Bari's most important…
Matera
Set high up on a spur between the two natural bowls of the sassi, the wan, graceful exterior of the 13th-century Pugliese-Romanesque cathedral makes the…
Matera
A fascinating Benedictine site dating to the Lombard period, the Cripta del Peccato Originale (Crypt of Original Sin) houses well-preserved 8th-century…
Lecce
Piazza del Duomo is a baroque feast, the city's focal point and a sudden open space amid the surrounding enclosed lanes. During times of invasion the…
Museo Archeologico Provinciale Ribezzo
Brindisi
This superb museum covers several floors with well-documented exhibits (in English), including some 3000 bronze sculptures and fragments in Hellenistic…
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Promontorio del Gargano
Over the centuries this sanctuary has expanded to incorporate a large complex of religious buildings that overlay its original shrine. The double-arched…
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Puglia
Medieval buildings thrust out of San Nicola's rocky shores, the same pale-sand colour as the barren cliffs. In 1010, Benedictine monks founded the Abbazia…
