Puglia: A land of friendly people, bold food, ancient history and masterpieces of architecture

The south is a different Italy, poorer than the north and grittier too. Here the ugly and beautiful sit side-by-side, historic buildings quietly crumble, and life moves more slowly, governed still by tradition.

For a long time much of the south remained undiscovered by visitors. But that is changing and now Puglia with its red earth and cute conical trulli houses is Italy’s newest hotspot. Helen Mirren has a place here.

Puglia lies in the south east, forming the heel of this boot-shaped country. Centuries-old olive groves stretch across land criss-crossed with dry stone walls and dotted with gleaming white hill towns.

Word has spread about Puglia, its affordability, its wine and food, history and culture. But like so much of the south it remains relatively unspoiled and is still resolutely Italian.

The iconic image of Puglia is the town of Alberobello in the Valle D’Itria which is filled with whitewashed limestone trulli houses with their conical-shaped roofs. These date back to the 14th century and the story is that the quirky design came about at a time when there were high taxes on buildings.

Its dry-stone construction meant that a trullo could be dismantled in a hurry if the tax inspectors were in the area. Today lots have been restored and the photogenic Rione Monti quarter of Alberobello has over a thousand cones. Many of these trulli are now souvenir shops to serve the tourists that flock in. It’s still charming and scenic of course, but other parts of Puglia are less crowded.

Atop a hill rising from the sun-scorched plains is Ostuni, known as the White City, one of the region’s most beautiful towns. Cool bars and interesting shops are hidden in the labyrinth of steep and narrow streets that make up its old town.

Here a morning starts with coffee in the Piazza della Libertà, watched over by the statue of Sant’Oronzo high on his ornate column, perhaps accompanied by some Tette delle Monache (it means nuns’ breasts), sweet domes of light sponge filled with a custard cream that is sometimes flavoured with pistachio.

Ostuni is a place to stroll around, whether it’s over the slippery flagstones up towards the gothic cathedral with its elegant rose window, or around the ramparts for views that stretch over the plains towards the sea and give a real sense of this town’s dazzling whiteness.

Originally the lime whitewashing of buildings was done for practical reasons – it reflects the sun so keeps things cool, and in the Middle Ages was also believed to have disinfectant properties, slowing the spread of disease. Today the government subsidises the repainting every two years to keep everything perfectly white and picturesque.

In Ostuni’s narrow lanes there are shady places to stop for an Aperol spritz – one of my favourites is Pausa Café, just below the main piazza. In Puglia no drink is served without accompanying stuzzichini (snacks). Most often what you will be served is a dish of taralli. Crunchy little bagel-shaped breadsticks that are often flavoured with fennel or chilli, you’ll find taralli all over southern Italy.

Another local rustic snack food is frise. These twice-baked rings of hard bread are softened briefly in water then topped with anything from olive oil, herbs and tomatoes to local cheeses, cured meats and white anchovies.

Further south, in the city of Lecce, fast food means puccia, something between a sandwich and a pizza. Wood-fired sourdough flatbreads are split open and filled with smoky cured meats and creamy mozzarella, or perhaps some meatballs and olives. Every puccia place has its own specialty.

The far south of Puglia, where Lecce can be found, is known as the Salento. It’s an area of rocky coastlines and white-sand beaches, as well as harsh landscapes. Lecce itself is known for glorious baroque buildings carved from golden sandstone. But there are layers of history, from the remains of Roman theatres to a 16th century castle and the triumphal arches that once formed the gates of this walled city.

Round every corner you seem to find yet another extraordinary baroque church, with a façade covered in stone gargoyles, cherubs and gremlins. Lecce is known as “the Florence of the south” and its main square, Piazza del Duomo, is considered one of the most beautiful in all of Italy but I was entranced by the extraordinarily elaborate Basilica di Santa Croce, which took over 100 years to complete.

Lots of restoration work has happened here, but it still feels like a living breathing city, rather than a museum. There’s great shopping – including an outpost of the Amalfi fashion boutique Antica Sartoria – and the city even has its own signature iced coffee, called a caffe leccese, which is spiked with an almond milk syrup and is addictively refreshing.

In the summer months Italians like to head to the beach for a day spent at a Lido, where you pay for sun loungers and a parasol and can have drinks and snacks delivered as you laze in the sunshine. During the summer the beaches become crowded, particularly the stretches of sand in crevasses between the limestone cliffs of Polignano a Mare.

One of the most famous is Lama Monachile – also called Cala Porto - which is right beside the town centre and popular with young people who like to put on show diving from the cliffs into the crystal-clear water of the Adriatic. Polignano a Mare also offers boat trips through the sea caves beneath the old town perched on the rocky cliffs, as well as famously good artisan gelato.

The other unmissable coastal places are Gallipoli, beside the Ionian Sea, where the historic centre sits on a small island connected to the mainland by bridge. And my own favourite spot the seafront town of Otranto on Italy’s easternmost point with its white sand beaches, shallow bays and rocky shores, alongside a hilly old town with a Romanesque cathedral floored with 12th century mosaics and an imposing castle.

But if you are in Puglia then you also must go to the white hilltop town of Martina Franca where over summer they hold a music festival and the place glitters with lights. And to the seaside town of Monopoli. And to bustling, vibrant Bari. You should be sure to see the dramatic Caves of Castellana. And stay in a masseria, in a farmhouse on an olive estate. And eat a meal of Puglian antipasti (don’t make the mistake of ordering a main course because once you’ve had the fava bean purée with wild chicory, and the seafood and vegetables, cured meats and cheese, oh and the bread, you won’t have space for any more).

Puglia is a land of friendly people, boldly-flavoured food, ancient history and masterpieces of architecture. No wonder it isn’t Italy’s best-kept secret any more.