OSTUNI

 
Ostuni is situated west of Brindisi, on the Murge hills covered with olive trees, gently descending to the sea. The ancient part of the town was built on seven hills. The highest hosts the medieval citadel called "La Terra", surrounded by walls and round towers, with typical narrow alleys, arches, stairways and the famous whitewashed color of all the houses, for which it is known as the "White City".
Its strategic position in the proximity of the sea made Ostuni a key centre, and it was fortified repeatedly in the centuries to defend it from many invasions.

The cathedral of Santa Maria dell'Assunzione, declared a national monument, rises on the highest spot of the town; it was built on the site of the ancient castle in the mid-15th century by bishop Nicola Arpone from Taranto. The facade contains a miscellany of styles, from the late Romanesque, which is very rare in Apulia, to the Gothic and Byzantine, and has 3 portals, each surmounted by a lunette and a rosewindow. The central rosewindow, of great beauty, has an external frame where the 12 apostles are represented. The central lunette has a bas-relief with the Virgin and Child, and the kneeling bishop that offers the cathedral. The lunette on the right represents St John and the one on the left St Blaise.