Locorotondo

The name means round place, and the old town is laid out in concentric rings of white houses following the contour of the hill, so walking outward or inward is a matter of curving streets rather than turns. Many houses have cummerse, steep gabled roofs of limestone slabs, a local form rare elsewhere in the region where flat roofs dominate. The village looks out over the Itria valley with its trulli scattered among vineyards and olives. A white wine of the same name is made from Verdeca and Bianco d'Alessano grapes on the surrounding slopes.

Background

Locorotondo lies in the Valle d'Itria between Martina Franca and Alberobello, in the Metropolitan City of Bari, at about 410 metres. The municipality covers 47 square kilometres and had 14074 residents at the start of 2021. It belongs to the association of the most beautiful villages of Italy and holds the Orange Flag of the Touring Club of Italy for the harmony of its forms and an old town easily explored on foot. Many of the cummerse houses have been renovated and now serve as a scattered hotel, and the town's feast days fall on 16 August and 23 April.

Source: Wikipedia, "Locorotondo"

The main sights

• The concentric plan - streets curving in rings round the hill.
• The cummerse roofs - steep limestone gables rare in Puglia.
• The valley view - trulli scattered across the Itria valley below.
• The white wine - Verdeca and Bianco d'Alessano from local vines.

When to go

April to June and September to October; summer is hot and busy with day trippers from the coast. Harvest is September. The village is small and quickly walked.

Before you go

The village is very small, an hour at most. Parking is outside the centre. It is heavily visited in season for its size.

Nearby

Martina Franca lies south; Alberobello is north.

Key facts