Discovering Martina Franca

Monday October 18 was a beautiful sunny day with a high of 19C, though it cools down to about 13C by 8:00 p.m.  It was a travel day as we were taking a 12:30 bus to Martina Franca, about an hour bus ride away (much closer if one drives), but we had stops in Fasano, Cisternino and Locorotondo, three other beautiful small towns in the Valle D'Itria section of Puglia.  There are no trains between Monopoli and Martina Franca. 

First, we had a morning walk to say Arrivederci to Monopoli.

The Clock Tower in Piazza Giuseppi Garibaldi

The Piazza and tourist office in the sun this time

Farewell to the "gozzo" boats

Sitting on the dock of the bay....

We passed Chiesa Di San Domenico, about two minutes from our apartment.  The church, attached to the former Dominican monastery is a "jewel of Renaissance architecture, a testimony of the historical importance of Monopoli between the 15-18th centuries".  It dates back to the end of the 16th century.

Chiesa Di San Domenico

The bus stop was only a ten minute walk from the apartment.  It was a regular intercity bus and passengers were masked and were to seat only in every other row.  The bus driver was off and running--- we passed by lots and lots of olive groves.  

Taking photos of the olive trees through a speeding bus

Olive groves for miles-- Sea in the distance

Passing a trullo (plural trulli)-- the wonderful traditional Apulia dry stone huts with a conical roof, specific to the Itria Valley.

Trulli in the distance (through a dirty bus window)

The bus was to make two stops in Martina Franca.  We had figured out the name of the stop we wanted before we left Monopoli but the bus's screen with the stops was not working.  Thank goodness, some of the other passengers on the bus told us when to get off.  

The bus stop was on the street bordering the magnificent Piazza XX Settembre where the Tourist Office is located.  We arrived at around 1:40 p.m. but the Tourist Office had just closed at 1:00 p.m. and would only be reopening at 5:00 p.m.  The 'siesta' hours seem to be around the same in most stores.

We continued to our Airbnb which was only about a seven minute walk away in the Centro Storico (Historic Centre).

Our travel guide quoted a 1960 travel diary where the author affectionately describes Martina Franca as "a little miracle, secluded and peaceful, set in the middle of a festive countryside."  It is perched on the top of a hill overlooking the Valle d'Itriaa (Itria Valley).  Originally, there were protective city walls with 24 watch towers, overlooking the surrounding countryside.

Its population today is around 50,000.  The town was founded in the 10th century and expanded in the 14th century by Philip I of Anjou.  In the 1500s it became the dukedom of the Caracciolo family which gave the city most of its splendour, embellishing it in the 1700s with the palaces,  streets and churches that give Martina Franca its elegance of today.   It is a stunning town with whitewashed alleys and stunning Baroque churches.  Martina Franca's architecture is distinctive and goes by the name of 'Baroco Martinese', a style of Baroque that is unique to this city.

Beautiful Piazza XX Settembre (looking from the bus stop towards the gate into the Centro Storico)

We walked through the impressive Porta Santo Stefano that leads into the town centre.  The gate dates back to the XV century but was rebuilt in the XVIII century with a distinctive Baroque appearance.

Porta Santo Stefano

The seven minute walk to the Airbnb took us through narrow streets and some of the main Piazzas.  It took a few minutes longer as I stopped to take photos.  We were both already totally enamoured with the city.

We walked through Piazza Roma and encountered the Palazzo Ducale, built by the Caracciolo family, the feudal lords of the city from 1506-1827.  It is now home to Martina Franca's city hall and also has a museum.  It was built by the Caracciolo family to resemble a royal residence and its original plan envisioned 365 rooms (this didn't materialise). It is still very impressive.

Palazzo Ducale

We continued our walk.

Narrow streets on the way to our apartment

Beautiful small stores

We started to notice a number of quotes from Andy Warhol and Picasso on plaques under beautiful ceramic planters besides stores.  We will have to find out the story behind these plaques.

Famous Warhol "blue jeans" quote

We then encountered the magnificent Basilica in Piazza Plebiscito.  San Martino is the patron Saint of Martina Franca and the Basilica di San Martino is named after him.  The church has the particular cream colour that is typical of the local stone from which it was built.  It shines when the sun is out.

Basilica di San Martino

The Basilica was constructed in the 1700s on a preexisting Romanesque church.  Next to the Basilica was the Palazzo dell' Università e Torre dell' Orologio. The clock tower was built in 1734.  Today the building houses the Craft Association of Martina Franca.

Clock tower and university building.

We then walked through the Piazza Maaria Immacolata located near the Basilica.  It was designed in the 1800s in a semi- elipse shape with arches where wares were once displayed.  It now hosts cafés and restaurants and is a beautiful spot.

Piazza Maria Immacolata

View back from the Piazza to the Basilica

We didn't have any trouble finding our apartment.  It is another lovely ground floor apartment on a very quiet street.  We gained entry through a lock box beside the apartment.  The host is an architect that lives in Turin.

Our quiet street and entrance (grey door)

Alonso leading the way into the apartment

The place is very cool-- well equipped and bright.  Definitely an architect's touch. 

Living room and dining table

Looking into the kitchen-- all white brick and interesting fixtures

View from bedroom back into living room/dining area

Bedroom

                                                              Bathroom off the bedroom

The place was quite warm when we arrived.  We asked our host how to adjust the heat.  He wrote us that it was remotely controlled and that he could lower it to the temperature we asked for.  As it was too early to go back to the tourist office to get a city map, we went to nearby Caffè Tripoli and had a coffee and shared a piece of tomato and olive focaccia (another Pugliese specialty).  Very light and fluffy.

Paying the bill inside

Outside of the Caffè

We caught sight of beautiful stain glass window

More Warhol, more ceramics

We wandered back to the Tourist Office to pick up a map and find out where the train station was located.  We came across a 2021 memorial to the Covid victims.

Memorial for all the Pandemic Victims

The plaque on the other side of the tree

More Warhol 

We passed another small church, the Chiesa di Sant'Antonio, built at the end of the 14th century.  The facade dates from 1835.

Outside of the church- neoclassical facade

Inside of rather austere Church

The lighting on the buildings is lovely just after sunset

We walked to a major street at the edge of the Centro Storico, looking for a wine store.  We found a tiny shop with bottles of wine and aluminium vats of wine (reminded us of a place in Prague which also served wine from vats).  The owner was very nice--- we got a local Pugliese Primitivo. 

Owner near the vats

The kids

Our bottle

We had a lovely light dinner at the apartment (prosciutto, pecorino cheese, baguette, wine, green beans, and pistachio amaretti for dessert).  On Tuesday, we will explore more of Marina Franca, a not to be missed city in Puglia.

Yikes,  just as I was about to post this blog on Tuesday at 9:15 a.m., the power went off!!  We immediately called our host.  It turned out that the power was going to be off in the immediate neighbourhood until 3:30 p.m.!!  As we couldn't boil any water for our coffee, we decided to have breakfast out.  We wish he had warned us.  As we went out, we saw the notice which we think just went up in the early morning.

Interruption of Electricity!

I am now posting this blog at 4:25 p.m.   The electricity is back!!  Thank goodness the weather was picture perfect today.  Blue, blue sky and a high of 20C.  We had to de-layer as the day went on.  I will post today's adventure in a separate posting.