Wherever you go, […] you see stones massing together, searching, arranging themselves (Cesare Brandi, “Pellegrino di Puglia”, Editori Riuniti, 2004). The peasant frees rocks from the fertile land and repurposes them in the furni and pagghiari (furnaces and dry stone toolsheds, both traditional rural constructions) or in the low dry stone walls that delineate his property, creating a simple improvised landscape where the sun highlights the dovecotes of the masserias, those grand residences housing the landowners.

The city of Lecce, nerve centre of the Salentine peninsula with its distinctive Baroque features is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as is the Port of Otranto, a historic crossroads where peoples and culture meet.

In Puglia, the quarries of Gallipoli, Alezio, Cursi, Corigliano d’Otranto and Melpignano form the Lecce mining basin, one of the four production areas of the Apulian chain and source of the local stone pietra leccese (also known as  pietra gentile – kind stone) and carparo. The quality of mining and processing here is internationally renowned and continues to bring wealth and economic development to the whole area, respecting and preserving tradition while making use of the latest innovations and state-of-the-art techniques. Stone from Puglia is one of the most sought-after materials there is, synonymous with luxury and elegance as well as being very energy efficient and excellent for acoustic insulation. Little wonder it is the material of choice for many of the world’s top architects.

There are hundreds of towns and villages dotted around the area, places where time seems to have stood still, like Melpignano, Cursi, Carpignano, Cannole, Castrignano, Martano and Corigliano. Every town has its own charm, whether it’s the weekly market with local produce or its craftsmen or its small trattorias hidden up tiny stone alleys. Each has its summer festival celebrating good food and conviviality and enlivened by little markets, enthralling music and popular dancing that continues long into the night.

Everywhere in Puglia you breathe in a unique atmosphere, full of vitality, something that attracts not only Italy’s elite but that of the entire world. People come for special occasions or long relaxing stays, seduced not only by the culture on offer but also the wealth of diverse activities available from golf and tennis, horse trekking to world class shopping at some of the most prestigious Italian fashion boutiques.

Matera’s cave dwellings and churches, underground storage reservoirs and the Rioni Pietrosi neighbourhoods of Sasso Barisano and Sasso Caveoso tell the story of the simple, basic life lived by a community made up mostly of shepherds, peasants and craftsmen who lived on exquisite bread (Matera’s bread has an I.G.P. quality standard award), thyme and oregano from Murgia and the freshest cheeses. A community that lived in harmony with the land, making the most of every resource it had to offer. When they needed more space, they dug out the living rock (the soft tufo under the soil) to make rooms, cellars and reservoirs to collect rainwater. In this way the ancient troglodyte dwellings gradually turned into a city, with houses, churches and streets, all created from stone. Matera and its land are the unique custodians of building knowledge and techniques all connected to the working and assembly of stone that has been handed down from generation to generation.

After being uninhabited for years (many of these stone dwellings had been abandoned continuously from the Bronze Age until the 1950s) and having suffered the anguish of forced depopulation imposed by the Italian government in order to relocate the population to more salubrious areas, the Sassi is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site with numerous decentralized accommodation solutions – full of boutique hotels, restaurants and private homes.The historic centre has been completely reinvented by a flourishing community of young artists and small scale entrepreneurs and they have made it such a vibrant city that it has been awarded the title of European Capital of Culture 2019: art shows, festivals and concerts are now the order of the day. Today, the Sassi is teeming with bakeries, pubs, artisan workshops and cultural initiatives offering a warm southern Italian welcome to visitors from all corners of the globe.

The humble architecture is now celebrated for its simplicity, a perfect counterfoil for more contemporary design. Losing yourself as you walk through the stone streets of the Sassi is a thrilling experience, there’s always something new and exquisite to discover: a flowered courtyard, a hidden little piazza, a carved stone staircase. The facades of the buildings, at first glance comparatively unremarkable, reveal their sheer architectural inventiveness to those who look carefully. It’s an incredible natural film location that has attracted directors from all over the world wishing to make their movies there.

Up top, walking through the 16th and 18th century city, you get constant glimpses of the horizon through the urban fabric: the surrounding undulating landscape and its carpet of wheat fields dotted with the cottages of the farmworkers and the masserias of the landowners who have always silently worked the land and looked after its produce. An enchanting, unspoiled interior made up of wooded hills, green meadows, vineyards and lakes, which for many is reminiscent of the Tuscan landscape and the Crete Senesi in particular.