PUGLIA GUIDE
Puglia, the sun-soaked heel of Italy’s boot, is more than an escape for beach lovers and food seekers. For the design-minded traveler, it’s a living gallery - where whitewashed masserie rise from olive groves, baroque palazzi are reborn as boutique hotels, and contemporary art dialogues with centuries-old stone. Here’s how to explore it through the design loving lens of Splendid:
WHERE TO STAY
Palazzo Bozzi Corso – Lecce
The Splendid choice for design lovers in Puglia. Tucked behind Lecce’s golden limestone façades, this 18th-century palazzo has been reimagined into a design-forward residence that feels equal parts museum and private home.
Each suite tells a story: frescoed ceilings juxtapose with mid-century Italian pieces, while curated artworks - from Fernand Léger to contemporary Italian creatives - bring modernity into dialogue with the past. A rooftop terrace frames views of Lecce’s baroque skyline, and the atmosphere is at once noble, intimate, and quietly avant-garde.
Staying here isn’t just about luxury; it’s about inhabiting a space where architecture and art are the protagonists.
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La Fiermontina Luxury Home – Lecce
Sitting just beyond Lecce’s ancient walls, marrying modernist restraint with Puglian romance. Limestone courtyards, sculptural pools, and minimalist interiors allow light and shadow to take center stage. Part of the Fiermontina Collection, it’s also a portal to their extraordinary cultural initiatives (more on that below).
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Palazzo Daniele – Gagliano del Capo
Palazzo Daniele is a grand Apulian palazzo turned design sanctuary, once the family home of aesthete Francesco Petrucci. With just nine suites, it has put the sleepy town of Gagliano del Capo on the cultural map.
Milanese duo Roberto and Ludovica Palomba have curated its interiors with striking precision: 19th-century frescoes and original mosaic floors are left intact, while contemporary art pieces and Flos light installations add a bold, modern counterpoint. The result is a space that feels both reverential and radical—an intersection of heritage and avant-garde minimalism.
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Borgo Egnazia – Savelletri di Fasano
An ode to vernacular architecture, a purpose-built village that distills the essence of Puglia’s masserie and trulli into a cinematic resort experience. Stone-paved alleys, vaulted suites, and handcrafted details conjure a timeless dreamscape, where every texture tells of craftsmanship and tradition.
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TO eat & drink
Zéphyr Restaurant – Lecce: Tucked within an ancient olive grove and framed by Lecce’s 16th-century city walls, Zéphyr Restaurant feels like a hidden chapter of the city. A secret citrus garden dotted with just a handful of tables, it sets the stage with atmospheric lighting and warm, intuitive service - an intimate prelude to a gastronomic journey designed to surprise. From lunch to aperitivo to dinner, the menu reveals a playful dialogue between tradition and reinvention.
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Palazzo Bozzi Corso, rooftop – Lecce
Complete with a private pool reserved for guests, the rooftop is an idyllic retreat-perfect for cooling off on sultry Salento afternoons or unwinding after a day spent wandering baroque Lecce. From here, panoramic views of terracotta rooftops and bell towers unfold, a constant reminder that you are in the very heart of the city. Service at Palazzo Bozzi Corso is as considered as the setting: attentive yet discreet, elevated by a curated cocktail and wine list that draws on the finest ingredients and vintages of the region.
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Cala Masciola – Borgo Egnazia: Borgo Egnazia’s beachside restaurant, brings the Adriatic to your table. Freshly caught seafood, sea-view terraces, and a palette of natural stone and sun-bleached wood make for an elemental dining experience.
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Masseria Le Carrube – Ostuni: At a restored 16th-century farmhouse in the heart of Puglia, vegetarian cuisine takes center stage. Chef-driven menus elevate vegetables into art, served against a backdrop of whitewashed courtyards, rustic beams, and flickering lanterns.
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Baldo Gelato – Lecce: Sandra Del Giovane crafts gelato as an art form, using local ingredients and following the rhythm of the seasons. Classics like pistachio sit alongside daring pairings -olive and orange, for example - while the option to sandwich your scoop inside a pillowy brioche pays homage to true southern Italian indulgence. Best savored in Lecce’s old town, it’s just a 30-second stroll from the magnificent Basilica di Santa Croce.
DISCOVER MOREWhat to See & Do
Fiermonte Museum – Lecce: It is not just a gallery but a cultural manifesto. Celebrating the life and work of Antonia Fiermonte, it brings together art, design, and history in an intimate yet powerful setting. Exhibitions here echo the creative spirit that permeates Puglia-personal, layered, and steeped in memory.
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Basilica di Santa Croce – Lecce: Lecce’s Basilica di Santa Croce is baroque at its most exuberant. Its façade-adorned with fantastical creatures, rosettes, and ornate flourishes-reads like stone lacework. Step inside and you’ll find a soaring, light-filled nave that reveals why Lecce is often called the “Florence of the South.”
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Alberobello’s Trulli: No visit to Puglia is complete without wandering the UNESCO-listed town of Alberobello, where conical trulli houses create a fairytale skyline. Built from dry limestone without mortar, their geometry and texture embody the ingenuity of local craft. For design lovers, they are a living study in vernacular architecture.
A Splendid Lens on Puglia
To experience Puglia as a design lover is to see how beauty is embedded in every detail: the weathered patina of baroque stone, the geometry of dry-stone walls crisscrossing olive groves, the artisanal ceramics that brighten kitchens and tables. It is a place where tradition feels alive, not static-constantly reinterpreted by hoteliers, chefs, and cultural custodians who understand that good design is timeless because it is human.
Come for the food, stay for the architecture, and leave inspired by a region where history and modern creativity intertwine in perfect harmony. For those planning a trip to Puglia, we wish you the very best time.
- Team Splendid!
