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Ostuni


A village that looks like a cloud, taking the name of "white city" for its white walls and its typically white painted architecture, Ostuni is among the main cities that attract tourists to Puglia. Rich in narrow streets and houses entirely painted with white lime, the village is located in the Itria Valley.
  • Blue Flag
  • Green Spikes
  • Village with park
  • Village with castle
  • Camper parking area
Ostuni  | StevanZZ/shutterstock.com
Ostuni
StevanZZ/shutterstock.com
Ostuni  | StevanZZ/shutterstock.com
Ostuni
StevanZZ/shutterstock.com
Ostuni  | Tupungato/shutterstock.com
Ostuni
Tupungato/shutterstock.com
Ostuni  | dziurek/shutterstock.com
Ostuni
dziurek/shutterstock.com
Ostuni  | Fabio michele capelli/shutterstock.com
Ostuni
Fabio michele capelli/shutterstock.com
Ostuni  | gimas/shutterstock.com
Ostuni
gimas/shutterstock.com
Ostuni  | petru stan/shutterstock.com
Ostuni
petru stan/shutterstock.com
Ostuni  | valeriomei/shutterstock.com
Ostuni
valeriomei/shutterstock.com
Ostuni  | mitzo/shutterstock.com
Ostuni
mitzo/shutterstock.com
Ostuni  | mitzo/shutterstock.com
Ostuni
mitzo/shutterstock.com
Torre Pozzelle  | sergiopazzano/shutterstock.com
Torre Pozzelle
sergiopazzano/shutterstock.com
Ostuni  | Andrew Mayovskyy/shutterstock
Ostuni
Andrew Mayovskyy/shutterstock
Ostuni  | Klaus von Kassel/shutterstock
Ostuni
Klaus von Kassel/shutterstock
Ostuni  | pixelshop/shutterstock
Ostuni
pixelshop/shutterstock
Ostuni  | tiziano fernando polito/flickr
Ostuni
tiziano fernando polito/flickr
Ostuni  | Giusi Borrasi
Ostuni
Giusi Borrasi
Ostuni  | Cristina Gottardi
Ostuni
Cristina Gottardi
Ostuni  | Henrique Ferreira
Ostuni
Henrique Ferreira
A look at Ostuni
A look at Ostuni
When I go to Ostuni, and stroll through its small streets, I am always almost enraptured by the white of its houses and the bright colors of the shutters. I like small shops and fragrant Focaccerie.  | Sara Melito - e-borghi Community
When I go to Ostuni, and stroll through its sma...
Sara Melito - e-borghi Community
Ostuni, August 2018.
The image was taken last August in the White City. The Apulian village is famous for its streets and stairways adorned with colorful flowers, plants and vases and always full of tourists.  | Carola Ferrero - e-borghi Community
Ostuni, August 2018. The image was taken last ...
Carola Ferrero - e-borghi Community
A saturday in Ostuni Old Town  | Massimiliano Ricci - e-borghi Community
A saturday in Ostuni Old Town
Massimiliano Ricci - e-borghi Community

About the village

Ostuni, called the White City of Salento, is a renowned tourist destination, full of narrow streets and houses, which are entirely painted with white lime. It rises in the Valle d’Itria at 218 meters above sea level, in the province of Brindisi, and is 8 km from the Adriatic coast where the Blue Flag flies, on the last offshoots of the Murgia area.

The term White City comes from the past as the village of Ostuni was repeatedly hit by the plague and so the area was sanitized and made aseptic, the walls were then covered with white lime.

Its historic center, defined by the inhabitants as "La Terra", fascinates tourists both for the whitewashing of the houses and for their particularity, as these climb the steep sides of a hill.
The medieval village is characterized by the tangle of winding streets, a succession of small squares, alleys and courtyards and its lower part is surrounded by the ancient city walls in which the only two entrances of the city are embedded: Porta Nova and Porta San Demetrio.

At the top of the hill there are the fifteenth-century Cathedral of Ostuni, the Bishop's Palace and the old Seminary.
Along via Cattedrale, near the baroque church of Santa Maria Maddalenat, there is the former monastery of the Carmelites, today home to the Museum of Preclassic Civilizations of the Southern Murgia, where the cast of Delia is exposed, i.e. a pregnant woman who lived 25,000 years ago and was found in a cave near Ostuni in 1991.

The coast today represents one of the major seaside tourist attractions in Apulia. The Ostuni coast extends for about 20 km and is characterized by its discontinuity, characterized by endless stretches of sand that alternate with majestic cliffs, coves. All this makes the area very beautiful and interesting, especially for those who want to see every day something different without moving too far from the starting point.
One of the most beautiful beaches of Ostuni, located about 7 kilometers from the historic center, is the Torre Pozzelle beach. Do not miss  Rosa Marina, a succession of small sandy beaches in the Mediterranean scrub, Monticelli, where it is possible to find a quiet and familiar atmosphere, and Costa Merlata, so called because of the extremely jagged coastline, with the sea creeping between the crevices of a rocky coast forming singular and intimate sandy coves.

The White City offers a variety of flavours, ranging from the sea to the mountains aromas.
A lot of fresh fish, but also vegetables, cheeses, oil and wine...
You have absolutely to taste the alici arracanate, the 'ncaprata, a poor dish based on cream of broad beans with the addition of chicory and turnip greens, the omelette with mint, the brasciole, rolls of slices of meat with ham, parsley and pecorino cheese filling gratin. You have to taste also the orecchiette with turnip greens, rice and mussels potato pan and, finally, the taralli seasoned with pepper or fennel seeds.

Village of Ostuni
Municipality of Ostuni
Province of Brindisi
Puglia region
Inhabitants: 31.197
Center altitude: 218 m s.l.m.
the Municipality is part of:
Strada dei Vini Doc Brindisi - Ostuni
Strada del Vino Doc Locorotondo e Martina Franca
Awards
Bandiera Blu
Spighe Verdi
Municipality
Piazza Della Liberta'68 - tel: 083130711
= distances as the crow flies

BY CAR

  • From Bari: Arriving along the A16 or A14, take the Bari Nord exit towards Brindisi. Follow the highway 16 from Bari to Brindisi until the Ostuni-Villanova exit, in the direction of Ostuni. Continue following the indications.
  • From Taranto: Arriving along the highway 106 take the Grottaglie-Brindisi exit. Follow the state road 7 Taranto-Brindisi to the Ostuni exit.
  • From Lecce: Coming from Brindisi or Lecce follow the highway 16 to the Ostuni-Villanova exit, in the direction of Ostuni. Continue following the signs for the city

BY PLANE

  • Bari airport
  • Brindisi airport

Sleep, eat, buy...

= distances as the crow flies
= distances as the crow flies
= distances as the crow flies

Ostuni is present in issue 4 of our digital magazine e-borghi travel.
Read it now!

Events

tuesday
26
august, 2025

Sant'Oronzo - Patron Saint

Our news about Ostuni

Ostuni, the beautiful white city, is not only a destination for tourists from all over, walking through the historic center in the height of summer, you may hear a tickle and see an old lady approaching you who taps on a cutting board with a smooth stone, maybe found in the nearby beach of Campo Marino, what remains of the fresh broad beans, so as to dry them and keep them ready for the winter season. The beans are a very common legume used in Puglia and in p...
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