Ostuni, The White City

On our way from Gallipoli to Alberobello, we stopped off for a visit to Ostuni, a picturesque hillside town that is known as Città Bianca, The White City. The majority of the buildings in the old town are constructed of limestone, a readily available commodity in the region, whose white colour served not only to keep the homes cool in the summer, it provided lime, the mineral that acted as an effective disinfectant in ancient times of epidemic. In fact, it is believed the city was largely spared from the plague in the 17th century because of the inhabitants’ use of lime.
From the highway one can see Ostuni gleaming in the sunshine from several kilometers away, quite a spectacular sight.
The area was first inhabited by Neanderthals some 40,000 years ago and the remains of a pregnant woman, who died 25,000 years ago, were found in one of the nearby caves. Quite a history.
Of course, like most of this part of Italy, the city was built, conquered, destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries. Messapians, Greeks, Romans and Normans all held the city at some point in history.
We wandered through the old town, admiring the 13th century cathedral, the palaces and some of the ruins of the ancient fortifications.
We were surprised to find the city to be teeming with tourists, particularly this early in the season.
When we arrived in Ostuni, I parked the car in the first open spot I saw. Park first, ask questions later. When we got out to read the signs to see if we could legally park in that spot, we were both puzzled by the posted pictograms. As we stood on the corner debating what to do, we were approached by an American couple, who have also been touring around Italy. The woman inquired as to our nationality and then went on a rant about how many tourists are already in the more popular cities further north. She claimed Rome is now almost unrecognizable with all the African, Syrian, Iranian and Chinese immigrants roaming the streets. Brenda politely agreed with her that the mainland Chinese tourists are quite unpleasant and said she does not want to be mistaken for one. The woman said, “I understand. Maybe you should have some surgery done to change your eyes or something”. Hmm….I wonder who she voted for.
By the time afternoon rolled around, we were getting a little hungry, but couldn’t find anything open to meet our dietary requirements. OK, there were a few, but the prices they were charging in the old town were ludicrous. Sorry, I can’t bring myself to pay €10.00 for a plate of pureed fava beans, even if it is a regional specialty. We made our way out of the old city and eventually came to a Tavola Calda that was filled with locals having lunch. Food is served cafeteria style and we ate delicious tomato and artichoke salads, pickled beets, orrechiette pasta and I had a decadent slice of tiramisu for dessert.
With very happy bellies, we jumped into La Grande Orange and made our way to our next destination, Alberobello.Read more