Cisternino is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the province of Brindisi in

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

, on the coast of south-eastern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, approximately north-west of the city of Brindisi. Its main economic activities are tourism, the growing of olives and grapes, and dairy farming. Cisternino sits in a historic zone of Itria Valley (in Italian: '' Valle d'Itria''), known for its prehistoric conical, dry stone houses called trulli, which are preserved under

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

safeguards due to their cultural significance, dry stone walls (''muretti a secco''), and its fertile soil which makes it the home of the Salento wine region. In 2014, Cisternino was declared the cittaslow city of the year

Main sights

The architecture is typical of the region with an old Centro Storico (Historical Centre) containing white-washed, stone buildings with cool, shaded, cave-like interiors, narrow streets and churches. The town also features several community squares, each of which is built on the edge of the hill allowing for some spectacular landscapes. In Cisternino and the surrounding area there have been several

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

finds, including different types of hand tools. Evidence would suggest that the region was also a seasonal home to ancient hunter-gatherer humans.

Food

Broad beans purée with wild chicory (fave e cicorie selvatiche), orecchiette con braciole e polpette (a particular shape of pasta with tomato sauce, stuffed beef rolls and bread balls on the side to deep in the sauce in the end) and "bombette" (a type of roasted pork rolls) are three typical dishes of Cisternino cuisine.

Transport

Public transport in Cisternino is minimal, with a large proportion of the inhabitants relying on their own means of transport. However, there are buses to nearby

Fasano Fasano (; Barese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Brindisi, Apulia, southern Italy. It is the second most populated town in the province after Brindisi, with a population in 2021 of 39,026. History According to a folk etymology, ...

which also houses the nearest major train station. The nearest airports are in the cities of

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

and

Brindisi Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histo ...

which are both less than one hour’s drive from Cisternino.

Twin towns

Kreuzlingen Kreuzlingen is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in north-eastern Switzerland. It is the seat of the district and is the second-largest city of the canton, after Frauenfeld, with a population of about 22,000. ...

, Switzerland

Notable People

Lisetta Carmi Annalisa "Lisetta" Carmi (15 February 1924 – 5 July 2022) was an Italian photographer. Biography Carmi was born in Genoa in a family of Jewish origins. Her older brother was the painter Eugenio Carmi. In the 1930s the Carmi family became a ...

- photographer * Una Chi - novelist, translator

References

External links

*
Cisternino on www.Comuni-Italiani.it

{{authority control Cities and towns in Apulia