Fasano (population 39.000), - a thriving agricultural town - is developing rapidly as a holiday centre, thanks to its location between the wooded hills of Selva di Fasano (6km west) and the attractive shoreline (7km east). It is known for its Zoo-Safari (open daily 09.30-dusk), a large drive-through zoological park with amusements. A strada panoramica, which runs along the north rim of the Murge dei Trulli, connects the town with Castellana Grotte.
Beyond Pezze di Greco, roads lead north to (6km) Torre Canne and south to (9km) Cisternino, just before Montalbano, a dirt track leads left to the Masseria Ottava, a farm, near which lies the so-called Dolmen of Cisternino or Tavole Paladine, a prehistoric stone monument thought to be a tomb. The straight course of the road ends as you round the northernmost spur of the Murge. The road begins to climb, with views ahead to Ostuni, its white houses silhouetted against the sky.
Ostuni (population 32.000) is a small city which has been inhabitated since the stone age. Its centre, is still circled by ramparts, but the focus of town life is the triangular Piazza della Libertà, at one end of which stands the exuberant Guglia di Sant'Oronzo (1771). Slightly set back from the square is the little church of Santo Spirito (1637), with its handsome Renaissance portal bearing reliefs of the Annunciation and of the Crowning and Death of the Virgin. From here Via Vicentini climbs to the old town, passing an 18C Carmelite convent and, next door, the Baroque church of Santa Maria Maddalena, with its cupola of coloured majolica.
The town's largest building is the cathedral which stands at the heart of the old quarter. Begun in 1435 and completed some 60 years later, it has an unusual façade of Spanish inspiration, with three rose windows and late Gothic decorative details. The Latin-cross interior was remodelled in the 18C; in the last chapel on the south can be seen a Madonna and Child with Saints by Palma Giovane.
The Museo di Civiltà Preclassiche della Murgia Meridionale e Parco Archeologico di Santa Maria di Agnano, in the Convento delle Monacelle at Via Cattedrale 15 (open Tue-Sat 08.30-13.00, Tues-Thur 15.30-19.00, Sun 15.30-19-00; tel. 0831336383), displays the 25.000-year-old skeleton of Delia, the Palaeolithic woman carrying a foetus, found in the cave of Santa Maria di Agnano. Here also are Neolithic, Bronze-Age and Iron-Age finds as well as an exhibition on ancient Mediterranean agriculture. The 13-hectare archaeological park where the Palaeolithic burial ground was found can be visited by appointment.
The bishop's palace, with its elegant 18C loggia stands behind the cathedral. Further on lie the remains of a castle erected in 1198 by Geoffrey, Count of Lecce, and destroyed in 1559. The church of the Annunziata, in the modern town, contains a Deposition By Paolo Veronese (stolen in 1975 and recovered in 1977).
Carovigno (population 14.000) is a town built on the site of the Messapian Carbina. The castle, erected in the 14C and 15C as a defence against pirates, was restored in 1906. the almond-shaped bastion at the north-east corner is unusual in Italian military architecture, whereas the triangular ground plan and tall enceinte are typical of late medieval fortifications. Within are rooms with 19C period furniture.
San Vito dei Normanni (population 21.000) has a 12C castle, transformed into a fortified residence in the 15C. The largest church in the city is the Basilica of Santa Maria della Vittoria and beyond the town, lie the Grotta di San Biagio, with paintings by Mastro Danieli (1197), and the Grotta di San Giovanni, also with frescoes.