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THE HILL OF FASANO

Piazza Ciaia was and remains the beating heart of Fasano. An elegant square where you'll recognize the true soul of the local community and its historical memory. Among various cultural and social symbols of identity, you'll recognize the civic coat of arms on its white limestone paving: a faso or wild pigeon surrounded by the Maltese cross.

In fact, governed by the Knights of Malta for 500 years, Fasano had a castle in this square, on the site of the current Town Hall, which served as the residence of the Balì and the residence of the Knights' military garrison.
The entire Piazza Ciaia is dominated by many public and private buildings of great architectural value, including Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Gaito, with its statue of the Madonna del Pozzo, the city's patron saint. Also noteworthy is the Clock Tower, home to the University, with its large loggia and current tourist information point. Then there's the late 16th-century church of San Nicola, the corner of Palazzo Mogavero-Pepe with its elegant loggia, and Palazzo Brandi-Latorre, built in the second half of the 19th century.
But if you skirt the Town Hall, heading north, you'll find yourself in the center of the city's main avenues, Corso Vittorio Emanuele, where you'll notice other palaces, churches, and houses in the Fasano style. On the seafront, you'll find the elegant Corso Garibaldi, known by the locals as Corso dei Colucci, due to the imposing Palazzo Reale-Colucci in its central location.
Continuing along Via Nazionale dei Trulli, we pass the urban park, known as the Parco delle Rimembranze (Park of Remembrance), although the locals still call it "le fogge," an ancient rainwater area.
Climbing up the hills, we find ourselves in a true paradise: the Canale di Pirro, a patchwork of colors in every season. Until 1700, the ancient Cana River flowed through here, making the soil very silty and ideal for viticulture. Pirro never passed through; in fact, it refers to the "pile," basins dug into the rock to collect water and use it for animals and agriculture.
In this fairytale landscape, the Giardini Pistola were created, 4 hectares of award-winning Mediterranean gardens designed by the winners of the Chelsea Flower Show, Urquhart & Hunt. Among roses and labyrinths of phillyrea, lavender, and Miscanthus sinensis, you can stop for a tasting or purchase of wines, oils, and honey.

For more information: www.giardinipistola.com

Resuming the tour of the Murgia and so the hills of Fasano, you'll be captivated by Cocolicchio, a small trulli village that predates Alberobello, and where time has not affected its authenticity at all.

Then you arrive in Selva di Fasano, where we recommend a stop on Viale Toledo, among relaxing cafés, the Trullo church, and Villa Minareto, a 1912 residence in Moorish-Arabic style where Damaso Bianchi celebrated Mediterranean culture in a truly unique architectural and symbolic form.

For more information: https://fondoambiente.it/luoghi/minareto-di-selva-di-fasano?ldc=