Masserie (plural for the singular masseria) are the ancient fortified farmhouses popping up in the Puglia countryside. They are as much a symbol of the Puglia as are the endless olive groves and the trulli. You can see their high stone walls springing up through the olive groves as you drive through the region. Most of them were built between the 14th and 18th centuries. The fortifications were built to protect against invasions by pirates and the Turks, but they were also living communities that housed families of the working farmers, and were like little cities. They have courtyards, communal gathering spaces and some even have small churches within the confines of the walls.
Many of the masserie were abandoned in the late 19th and 20th century. Similar to the way old villas have been restored in Tuscany, buying and restoring these masserie has been quite popular. Many have been restored into luxurious five-star hotels, boutique bed and breakfasts or places that hold special events.
Masseria Provenzani, (pictured above) is one of those masserie that have been restored to a boutique accomodations. Surrounded by olive groves and gardens, the masseria is only 1 km from the Adriatic Sea and a 15 minute drive to Lecce, Salento's capital city. Styled in a rustic chic, the grounds are full of climbing bouganvillea, other flowers, a vegetable garden, olive trees and a gorgeous pool. It is where we'll be staying during our Food & Wine Lover's Culinary Tour. The masseria's large and country kitchen is where Mamma Giulia cooks for the guests and holds her cooking lessons.
Built in the same manner as the famous trulli of Puglia, this pajara has been restored to one of the rooms at Masseria Provenzani
Masseria San Lorenzo, built in various stages during the 1500s, was restored using the Leccese stone from the quarry on its grounds. Now the masseria hosts special events, most notably wedding receptions. The spacious and lush outdoor gardens include a stream, pergolas, palm trees, olive trees and other fruit trees.
Other masserie have been restored to working order. On the working masserie, you can find working vineyards, animals whose milk make creamy Salento cheese, fields full of vegetables and fruit, and of course, olive groves. Below many of the masserie that produced olive oil hundreds of years ago, there are ancient underground oil mills, called frantoio ipogeo in Italian.
We toured the wine and olive oil producing L’Astore Masseria, one of the first masserie to be restored. Its underground olive mill, originally built in the 1700s was one of the bigger mills of the area. Both ingenious and absurd, these mills were carved out of the stone under the earth. The harvesters dropped the olives into specified holes in the ground. They fell through the holes and into rooms built to store the olives. Great stone mills pushed by animals crushed the olives, and then moved them to the olive pressing area. Ingenious and efficient, right? The absurd part: Both the animals and the workers lived underground together, albeit in different rooms, during the entire oil-making season.
Modern-day underground wine cellar at L'Astore built next to its Frantoio Ipogeo
Join
me in Puglia in 2013! For this food lover's culinary tour, we'll be
cooking with our beautiful Italian mamme
and professional chefs. The
trip includes an 8-night stay at the gorgeous Masseria Provenzani,
cooking lessions at the masseria with Mamma Giulia & Mamma Anna and much more.
There are four tour dates available from which
to choose! For tour details, check out this page: Culinary Tours in Puglia 2013!
***Early booking discount: Book and pay by check by January 31, 2013 and receive a $200 discount off the tour price.****
Masseria Provenzani
Strada Provinciale 236
Via Provenzani No. 102
I-73100 Casalabate (LE)
Email: info@masseriaprovenzani.com
Phone: +39.0832.389140
Masseria San Lorenzo
Via Francesco Flora, 1
73100 Lecce
Phone: +39 333 333 6045
L’Astore Masseria
Via G. DiVittorio
73020 Cutrofiano (Lecce)
Phone: +39 0836 54 2020
Email: info@lastoremasseria.it
*Guided visits and tastings are available by appointment only
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The Art of Making Pasta by Hand: A Pugliese Pasta Lesson with Nonna Vata
Cheese in Puglia - Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento
The Pastries of Lecce with Pastry Chef Luca Capilungo
Traditional Salentine Dishes at Locanda Rivoli in Lecce
Lecce: The Baroque Beauty of Puglia
Pugliese Pasta Dish: Sagne Ncannulate con Sugo Schiattariciati
Classic Salentino Cuisine Reinvented at Sette di Sette in Lecce
Tour of Masseria L'Astore and its Frantoio Ipogeo in Salento
Lunch Salento Style at Cantine Menhir
Shopping and Eating Local in Italy - Farmers' Market in Lecce
Sagne Ncannulate Schiattariciati - Pugliese Pasta with Schiattariciati Tomato Sauce
The Dish from Lecce: Rustico Leccese
The Dish from Puglia: Ricci di Mare (sea urchins) from Porto Badisco
This Dish from Puglia: Friselle
Christmas Around Italy - Christmas Desserts in Salento
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Very interesting post and beautiful photos.
Posted by: Simona | March 09, 2012 at 10:59 PM
Thanks for this lovely education on the masserie; they're so beautiful! And what a fantastic location for your food tour... those are going to be some lucky guests: great setting & delicious Italian food. So jealous!
Posted by: Tuula | March 11, 2012 at 03:05 AM
What an amazing place! Funny to think these humble quarters are now so luxurious. Wonder what the original inhabitants would think if they could see them now!
Posted by: Frank | March 12, 2012 at 05:03 AM
Beautiful places!
A Masseria is a great location to spend the holidays in Salento.
Looking forward to see more and you're more than welcome to visit us too.
Masseria Saittole
Posted by: Saittole | June 04, 2012 at 01:43 AM