Every design for Monopoli

Monopoli lies on the Adriatic forty kilometres south-east of Bari, on the edge of the Conca di Bari, where the land drops in a steep step that locals call Le Serre. Below it is the marina, the flat strip running down to the sea; above it is the selva, an upland that climbs inland towards the hills of the Murgia.

What makes Monopoli its own is how much of the past still lies under your feet. People lived here at least fifteen thousand years ago, the Messapians built a fortified city, and the town holds the longest stretch of the Via Traiana anywhere in Apulia, the Roman road Trajan built as a shorter route to Brindisi, now set in an archaeological park. Its name, the only city, dates from the day the people of Gnatia fled here after the Ostrogoth king Totila destroyed their town. The medieval centro storico keeps the Castello di Carlo V, the Bastione di San Domenico and the Chiesa Santa Maria degli Amalfitani, while the countryside is dotted with fortified masserie, trulli and centuries-old olive trees.

If Monopoli is yours, you know its coast by heart, more than twenty-five coves of rock and sand along a low, jagged shore. Keep it with you, wherever you end up.