Saturday, February 26, 2011

Altamura

LAST DAY TO ENTER THE SHANNON MCKENNA ROMANTIC THRILLER GIVEAWAY
(Read here for details on how to win!)


Altamura is an interesting little city located 45 kilometers inland in the province of Bari. It has various claims to fame. 

These include Altamura Man, the perfectly preserved 400,000 year old skeleton of a pre-Neanderthalian hominid discovered in a limestone cave near the town. 

No less important, however, is its renowned bread (click here for the recipe). According to the Latin poet Horace, "...for water is sold here, though the worst in the world; but their bread is exceeding fine, inasmuch that the weary traveler is used to carry it willingly on his shoulders." You may not often be obliged to carry your bread on your shoulders, but in Altamura the bread is made in round forms of various sizes, small, medium, large and extra-large . . . like as large as the wheel of a car!

Let's take a walk through the historic center of town . . .

The gateway into the walled old town

A loggia tucked away in the courtyard of 15th century Palazzo Viti

The entry to the Cathedral, built in 1232, another of the city's bragging points.

What the lion and I saw across the piazza from the Cathedral

Detail of the Puglian-Romanesque style cathedral's intricately carved portal

The cathedral's golden interior

Angels are watching over you!

Detail of the cathedral flooring - kind of Escher-like!

Caffè Ronchi
Don't forget to stop in at Caffè Ronchi, located right next to the cathedral, not only for an espresso, but to try their famous Padre Peppe walnut liqueur. It's made by distilling walnuts in pure alcohol for 3 years, then filtering them and leaving them to age for another 2 years. It's worth the wait, though, quite delicious!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

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LindyLouMac said...

I enjoyed the introduction to Altamura. Walnut liquer, sounds interesting maybe I should suggest this to my husband as we have a couple of walnut trees that produce far more walnuts than we manage to use. I hope you are feeling better and that you are warmer down there than we are here in Lazio!!

Couture Carrie said...

What amazing architecture!

xoxox,
CC

jann said...

Thanks Saretta for the info on Altamura... I'm dying to get back to Puglia--I was in Lecce once and adored it but didn't go anyplace else. (& walnut liqueur sounds luscious.)

Tanya (a Taste of T) said...

These are so so so beautiful

<3, New Follower
Everyone loves a giveaway

Monica said...

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Val said...

Gorgeous blog - Southern Italy is still relatively unexplored for me and will be spending some time there next month. I look forward to reading/seeing more!

Saretta said...

I Try - your blog is so much fun!

LindyLour - the walnut liqueur is potent and tasty, why not try to make some!

Carrie - isn't it spectacular?

jann - Lecce is breathtaking, but there is really SO much to see in Puglia. You must come back!

Tanya - glad you enjoyed the photos!

Monica - thanks for the award!

Valerie - welcome to the blog, hope you will find it interesting!

InaMasonJar said...

What a beautiful Blog. Thanks for stopping by. We are almost done with the water damage... a long work in progress, probably another 3-4 days. sigh... Have a lovely weekend!

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