The historical and cultural charm of places immersed in nature such as masserie Puglia, remains unchanged over time, talking about traditions, folklore and times gone by. Places of great beauty where nature meets necessity, masserie are structures in which a series of rural buildings together represented an ancient farm. In particular, these structures arose in the south, especially in Apulia, where they took their name from the “masserizie”, or the furnishings, furniture and tools, aimed at peasant use.
Now these structures, although completely immersed in nature, allow you to experience the charm of history and naturalness, in a stay with all the comforts. Over time, in fact, the farms have been re-evaluated, renovated and transformed in their functions. In Apulia they have become reception rooms, restaurants and sometimes even places to stay. A real refuge in short from everyday life, where to recharge your batteries just spend a few hours in contact with nature, enjoying good food, surrounded by the lush greenery of the flora of Puglia. The farms in Apulia have been preserved with great care and especially among the most fascinating of these ancient companies, several are located in Valle d’Itria, in the countryside in the province of Taranto, Bari, Brindisi, Lecce and Capitanata, that is in the traditional areas of agricultural use.
Originally, these structures were both of considerable volume and extension, keeping inside, in addition to other structures, deposits of animals and food, which were stored in large stone buildings inside which lived farmers, shepherds and owners. Those that belonged to the richest families were also fortified and equipped with walls as well as defensive towers. Produced by the colonization of the barons of vast inland areas, both abandoned and uncultivated between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, they were the result of the reform issued by Spain according to which it granted to the nobles of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies the appropriate licenses for the repopulation of the areas.
In the ’90s, thanks to the intense action of recovery of the historical farms, many of these places have been converted into agritourisms and bed & breakfasts, ensuring the preservation and conservation of these monuments of history. Structures that as a whole represented more widely a geo-economic organization linked to the latifundium, which are identified in our days as a symbol of the ancient wealth of the aristocratic classes and the bourgeoisie are now the re-proposition of an ancient scheme in a modern key, where often to really disconnect you can enjoy good food, sometimes surrounded by ancient olive trees.