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,…
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…
Bari
Roger the Norman originally built this castle in the 12th century over the ruins of a Byzantine structure. Later, Frederick II of Swabia built over the…
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…
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…
Bari
This beautiful piazza is fronted by the Sedile, the headquarters of Bari's Council of Nobles. In the square's northeast corner is the Colonna della…
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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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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…
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Museo Archeologico Nazionale delle Sibaritide
Calabria
Founded around 730 BC and destroyed by the Krotons in 510 BC, Sybaris was rebuilt twice: once as Thurii by the Greeks in 444 BC, and again in 194 BC by…
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Puglia
Head to San Domino for walks, grottoes and coves. It has a pristine, marvellous coastline and the islands' only sandy beach, Cala delle Arene. Alongside…
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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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Santuario di San Francesco di Paola
Calabria
Watched over by a crumbling castle, the Santuario di San Francesco di Paola is a curious, empty cave with tremendous significance to the devout. The saint…
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Basilicata
Not to be confused with the Tavole Palatine, the Parco Archeologico is a larger, if less immediately impressive collection of Metaponto ruins that…
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Trani
This synagogue, one of four once established in Trani's ancient Jewish quarter, has been reborn after over 600 years. Persecutions, forced conversions and…
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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
Primarily the work of the Aragonese who ruled southern Italy in the 16th century, this sturdy redoubt retains elements built by the Angevins in previous…
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Otranto
Dubbed L’Approdo (The Landing) and located in Otranto's new port area, this striking installation by the Greek artist Costas Varostos was erected in 2012…
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Parco Archeologico di Grumentum
Basilicata
The Parco Archeologico di Grumentum – sometimes known as Basilicata's 'Little Pompeii' – contains remains of a theatre, an amphitheatre, Roman baths, a…
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Abbazia della Santissima Trinità
Basilicata
At the northeastern end of Venosa, the abbazia (abbey) was erected above the Roman temple around 1046 by the Benedictines and predates the Norman era…
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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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Lecce
While the Normans built the original castle in the 12th century, it became associated with the Spanish Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who enlarged it…
