Ostuni is the “White City” that rises in the province of Brindisi, on the last offshoots of the southern Murgia, where the people are hospitable and the sea wonderful. Inhabited since prehistoric times, the territory of Ostuni became the land of peoples known as Japigi and Messapi. These testimonies are now contained in the Museum of Preclassic Civilizations of the Southern Murgia, housed in the former Carmelite Monastery of Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi, with the adjoining Church of San Vito Martire. The ancient village with its white-painted houses, known as La Terra, is the result of the many historical events that have traversed Puglia: it is a fascinating tangle of winding streets, a succession of courtyards, small squares and alleys that once led to five gates that opened into the city walls. At the top of the town stand the monumental 15th-century cathedral dedicated to Santa Maria dell'Assunzione, a national monument since 1902, and the Bishop's Palace, from a position that allows one to dominate the plain of centuries-old olive trees, the sea with its watchtowers and the dunes covered by centuries-old junipers of the Dune Costiere Regional Natural Park from Torre Canne to Torre San Leonardo. Also worth seeing are the Frantoio ipogeo "Lacopagliaro", the Santa Maria di Agnano Archaeological Park, the Crypt of the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Nova, the column of Sant'Oronzo, the Montalbano dolmen and the Lamacornola nature area. The local gastronomy, enriched by various aromatic herbs from the Mediterranean maquis, is dominated by olive trees, the cultivation of which has ancient origins in this land dotted with trulli, masserie and rural chapels. The surrounding area, in fact, falls under the PDO (extra virgin olive oil "Collina di Brindisi"). Wine, too, boasts long-standing traditions: those prized are the DOC white wines such as Ostuni and Martina, and the DOC red Ottavianello. Of particular interest, then, are the cheeses made from sheep's and goat's milk, such as Canestrato, cacioricotta and ricotta forte. All these traditional peasant products combine to make orecchiette, or "stacchiodde" with tomato sauce or turnip greens, and the catch of the Adriatic Sea unique. To try these peasant flavors, it is worth attending local festivals, also perfect for returning emigrants interested in learning more about local traditions: the Feast of St. Blaise on February 3, linked to the legend of how the saint managed to remove a thorn from the throat of a dying man; the Feast of Our Lady of the Nova, the Sunday after Easter, where the people of Ostuni eat a dove-shaped cake with a hard-boiled egg in the center called "La Palomma"; the Ostunese Summer in July and August, with the town being enriched with ancient customs, crafts, traditions and flavors of the past; and the Cavalcade of St. Oronzo on August 25, 26 and 27, which has been held continuously since 1793 and celebrates the miracle of the saint who saved the population from the plague. It will be enough to participate in any of these occasions to understand how fascinating Ostuni's cultural roots are.
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