Masseria Palombarain Oria

Why it’s on the Edit

Masseria Palombara is a masseria of the 1500s near Oria, and it is reserved for adults. The restoration was conservative and done by subtraction: the owners removed what had been added to the original structure over the last 700 years and used old building techniques and materials of the period.

The estate is the draw. It covers 100 hectares farmed organically, and the masseria says it has done so for 20 years. About three hectares are an archaeological area that the owners recovered: a Messapian stone quarry from 700 BC that became Roman between 100 BC and 100 AD, and the remains of a Roman cart road.

A hypogeum holds traces of a Basilian church from the 1400s, and a fifteenth-century dovecote tower, a strategic post that kept pigeons for sending and receiving messages, has been recovered too. Ask for a visit.

The rooms

There are 20 rooms, all reserved for adults. The website lists nine types: Deluxe Room with patio, Junior Suite with patio, Junior Suite Palombara, Junior Suite Colonica with pool, Wellness Suite with hammam, Suite Colonica with pool, Suite Masseria with pool, Suite Palombara with pool and Grand Suite Palombara with pool.

The Deluxe Room measures 25 to 28 square meters, with a double bed, a shower and a private patio on the court of the masseria. The Suite Palombara is 50 square meters on the first floor of the historic body, with tufa vaults whitened with lime, an ancient fireplace facing the bed and a private terrace with a pool. It sleeps three, and a hidden passage leads to the spa.

Each room has two bicycles for guests.

Eating and drinking

The restaurant works from the farm. The seasonal menu combines the harvest of the organic garden with produce from small local producers. In summer you eat under the porticoes, in winter by the fireplaces.

Breakfast is served at the table. A hot savory dish changes daily. The jams are the masseria’s own, the honey comes from its almond grove and the masseria names its pastry chef, Ester. Plates are Grottaglie ceramics.

The wine list favors small independent producers of natural, organic and biodynamic wines from Primitivo, Negroamaro, Nero di Troia and Susumaniello. A four-hour cooking class runs from the garden to the kitchen to the table.

The setting

The setting is farmland and old stone: olive trees, almond trees and palms in a private park of 100 hectares, with the quarry and the tower in the grounds. The masseria says white beaches and clear sea lie a short distance away.

The spa occupies the old granaries. A hammam sits in an ancient cistern reached by worn tufa steps, and there are a sauna, a Scottish shower, a warm pool at 32 degrees lit through slits in the rock, and a hydromassage bench.

There is also an outdoor pool for guests with a solarium, a gym, a boutique of local crafts and an open-air cinema showing Italian classics with English subtitles.

Good to know

• Adults only. Not for guests with children.
• The staff are entirely young people from the local community, according to the masseria.
• Weddings are limited to a small number of private events on an exclusive basis.
• Not confirmed here: pets, opening months and the exact season of the pools.
• Price band: 3 of 5 (estimated: no official rate found).

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

It suits couples and adult friends who want a historic masseria with a spa, an organic kitchen and an archaeological site in the grounds, and who will use the two bicycles that come with each room.

Look elsewhere if you travel with children or want the beach at the gate. Masseria Malvindi is a smaller masseria with a pool and a cooking class near Mesagne. Masseria Elysium is a masseria near Mesagne with a guests-only spa.

Getting there

Masseria Palombara is on the provincial road toward Manduria, near Oria, in the Brindisi and the Messapian towns area. Brindisi is the nearer of the two airports, and Bari is further north.

You need a car. The masseria sits in its own park, and the beaches, Oria and the other towns are separate trips.