A smart US blogger and Huffington post contributor Ana Ojha has recently entered the Apulian olive trees in a bloggers’ list of amazing and surreal landscapes around the world. Read the post.
In the wake of this article, we thought about how many other Apulian landscapes would deserve to qualify for this beautiful list.
So here’s a whole local list of itineraries to enchanting places in Apulia.
If you like to be surprised and taking great pictures, go and see these amazing places.
1 – Old olive trees paths
We agree with those who say that the olive trees of Apulia are among the most beautiful and strange at once things that nature has given us. Twisted trunks that seem to dance while standing still, motionless yet moving over the centuries, the Apulian olive trees are a metaphor for how something can change, evolve, improve and yet always remain itself.
And keep on being at the center of everything, in spite of the surrounding transforming world.
Just take a trip by car or by bike in the countryside of Salento, and the province of Brindisi to be enchanted. A special place to see an amazing sight of olive trees is the so-called “Cave of the millenary”, a cavity at the end of a campaign trail that overlooks an olive trees esplanade. This place is located inside a private property. One way to visit it is driven by the association Millenari di Puglia, which can guide you in many other paths through the olive groves.
If you love the genre, remember that the Borgagne Secular Olive Tree is already part of the Unesco heritage, as the oldest Italian olive tree (older than the Colosseum and the Parthenon).
2 – Quarry of bauxite in Otranto
Not far from the lighthouse of Punta Palascia in Otranto, there is a no longer operated mining reservoir where ground seeping waters have created an emerald lake whose color intensity, going from a deep emerald green to a violent purple, is surreal, like the rest of the panorama that opens to eyes of the visitor.
You can reach this area by car, going from Otranto to Santa Cesarea. The car can not get (thankfully) up to the quarries. You must leave your car at the end of a dirt road and proceed on foot.
You can also walk there from the Port of Otranto, taking direction to Orte at the first roundabout. At the next roundabout, turn right, then the first left (at this stage you will see a large red cross on your right).
3 – Two seas meeting in Santa Maria di Leuca
We have already spoken of the activities to do absolutely in Santa Maria di Leuca. Needless to say, if you come here at the end of the earth, it’s definitely the case to go on a clear morning at Punta Meliso, from where you can see better the meeting line of the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Sea. It will not be difficult to resume this line with a good camera lens and notice the obvious difference in the two blue water currents. This is something that you can observe in few other places of the world.
Look for an amazing accommodation in the surprising nature of Salento
4 – Castellana Caves
Near the town of Monopoli (BA), you can enjoy the amazing Castellana caves, very important and charmful karst caving. Walking them is like walking into a parallel underworld where magic is increased by the mythological and fantastic names given to the different cavities. You can walk through a 3 km guided route.
5 – Castel del Monte
Although the majestic fortress built after the will of Frederick II in the thirteenth century offers a human and not a natural landscape, its majesty inserted in the barren landscape of the Western Murgia makes it even more unique.
The mystery that surrounds it, the mathematical and astronomical rigor of its plan and structure, the symmetric play of light in the various phases of the day and the seasons, its many symbolisms, all this and more always attract travelers and scholars from all over the world.
Have you seen some of these places? Tag us in your incredible landscapes on instagram!
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