A thin strip of land embraced by the seas, a mosaic of cultures carried by the breeze

In Apulia the land soon ends, on all sides, and, on the finibus terrae, there is nothing left but to learn to swim to the rhythm of the sea or to fly with the imagination.

Right on the coast there are the most extraordinary cities, fruit of the magical union between land and water, pearls set in time and space because their foundations dive into the blue, the infinite par excellence. One of them is Monopoli, a name derived from the Greek meaning “unique city”. And unique it really is: a timeless cros

sroads between East and West, an oasis of perfect symbiosis between nature and city. Almost like a shell gently laid by the Adriatic Sea in the mists of time, the village is a web of wonderfully white and calm alleys in which the waves of the city’s four coves echo. It’s easy to get lost in this spectacular network of alleyways, yet just look up at the town’s many towers and the route is assured. A splendid example is the bell tower of the church known as the Purgatory, an unmissable masterpiece of classical baroque, located in the characteristic via Argento. Here the typical emerald green shutters and the embossed flower boxes in bright colors make the old town a living postcard.

The Porto Vecchio then, with its colorful boats and turquoise waters that touch the historic walls, can not help but charm visitors. It is while admiring the fishermen at work that one can grasp the soul of Monopoli, which has always been a safe

port on the Adriatic.

Here history is engraved on stone: from the fascinating ruins of the nearby and lost Egnatia to the splendid Castle of Charles V, everything seems to tell of a bewitching past. If the Cathedral of Monopoli, one of the most fascinating churches in Puglia, weaves history and legend under the hot sun, the cool underground holds precious gems, such as the suggestive hypogeum dedicated to

the Madonna del soccorso. It seems that Monopoli is a book written by time just waiting to be read.