A charming seaside town on the Adriatic coast of Puglia, south-east of Bari, between Salento and the Itria Valley, Monopoli stretches along 15 kilometres of low, jagged coastline, dotted with little coves and long beaches.
Monopoli, in the centre of Puglia, part of the “Costa dei Trulli” area, is the outlet to the Adriatic Sea of an area encompassing the trulli of Alberobello (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and drystone walls (a protected intangible heritage), farmhouses, centuries-old olive trees, authentic, elegant historical centres, castles and abbeys, caves, art venues, Messapian and Roman archaeology in the Egnazia National Museum and Archaeological Park, the cave-dwelling civilisation, gourmet food and wine, folklore, the natural heritage of the Regional Park of Coastal Dunes and the Murgia dei Trulli, a site of EU Community importance.
The Egnatini (from the Messapian center of nearby Egnatia), the Byzantines, Bretons, Arabs, Spaniards, and Venetians all contributed in various ways to making the city’s culture a true polychrome mosaic but, at the same time, these menacing presences compelled it to become a powerful fortress watching over the sea.
The historic center, of medieval origins, is a maze of pedestrian streets, typical lanes, narrow passageways, and ancient piazzas, wonderful popular housing interspersed with sumptuous religious buildings and splendid aristocratic homes. It was on these very streets that the second edition of the “Panorama Monopoli” exhibition was held.