In contrast to over-crowded Florence or Rome, the sun-drenched, unhurried region of Puglia in southern Italy is an open-air museum where artists can wander through thousands of years of history and experience UNESCO world heritage sites with their paint-box in hand.
Puglia is totally unique. This small region in southern Italy is unlike anywhere else in the world. Hazel Soan and I chose this area as the site of our spring 2027 painting holiday because it is so interesting! We will start at the Adriatic Sea in the historic old walled town of Bari. The medieval Benedictine monastery and the ancient Roman ruins will be the backdrop to the start of our painting adventure.
Next we will visit Martina Franca, a Baroque jewel in southern Italy. Martina Franca is one of the "white villages" of Puglia, that flourished in the 18th century. It’s bright and clean and uncrowded. Nonnas tend their geranium windowboxes and sweep their front steps. After our workshop here we will visit a local vineyard and taste their best wines.
On our third day we will visit the fairytale village of Alberobello, known for its concentration of limestone trulli dwellings. Originally they were built as temporary shelters for shepherds. As we get closer to the village we see more and more of them. Alberobello boasts over 1,500 of these remarkable cone-shaped buildings—about 75% of the structures in this town. It’s an incredible experience to wander the trulli-lined streets and we will be sure to return home with a painting of them.
Equally breathtaking is the ancient town of Matera, home to more than 1,000 traditional cave dwellings and roughly 150 to 166 rock-hewn churches. These ancient cave dwellings called sassi, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, are a complex network carved into the limestone cliffs of a deep ravine and inhabited since the Paleolithic period.
In the 1950s the Italian government forced roughly 15,000 to 16,000 residents to leave the caves because of severe poverty, overcrowding, and malaria. But after the area became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, laws changed to allow people to reclaim and renovate the ancient grottoes. Today hundreds of residents live permanently in modernized cave homes equipped with electricity, plumbing, and wifi and the restored caves also serve as one-of-a-kind hotels, restaurants, and museums. Here from a secluded vantage point we will paint the sassi undisturbed.
On our last day we will explore the coast and paint Polignano and Monopoli, two seaside towns with dramatic cliffside views and romantic turquoise coves.
Remarkable, unforgettable, Puglia will not disappoint.
Join me and watercolour instructor, Hazel Soan, in sunny southern Italy this May 11-15, 2027 as we explore these unforgettable villages during our Puglia Villages Watercolour Tour.
For more info CLICK HERE.