Traditional Apulian cuisine, born from the simplicity and quality of local produce, also includes the preparation of calzoni filled with white onions or with sponsali (young wild leeks).

ONION CALZONE

Traditional Onion & Sponsali Calzoni – Not to Be Missed

Traditional Apulian cuisine, born from the simplicity and quality of local produce, also includes calzoni prepared with either white onions or sponsali. In Turi, both versions can be found, with the sponsali filling being particularly popular. Sponsali are young spring onions, harvested before the bulb fully develops.

The calzone is made with a tarallo-style dough and filled with stewed white onions or sponsali, black olives, anchovies, and raisins. Oven-baking gives the calzone a golden, crisp exterior, while the inside remains soft and richly flavoured.

Versatile and comforting, the calzone can be enjoyed as an appetiser, a main dish, or street food. It is traditionally prepared for special occasions such as Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, but is also loved as everyday comfort food, winning everyone over with its genuine taste and rustic simplicity.

Stone Faces Against Evil: the Apotropaic Masks of Turi

In Turi, around thirty apotropaic masks have survived—human faces carved into arches, doorways and windows, intended to protect against evil spirits and the evil eye. Created mainly between the 1910s and 1920s, they feature grotesque expressions designed to ward off misfortune. Today, many are deteriorated, yet they remain valuable witnesses to popular imagination and to the town’s historical identity.

TuriBorgoAntico

1 day ago2 min read

The Cross, where the town pauses and remembers

The Cross of Via Rutigliano in Turi is a large 19th-century votive shrine that for centuries marked the entrance to the town and the symbolic passage between the world of the living and that of the dead. Restored in 1994, and already rotated and repositioned in the 1930s, it preserves Neo-Gothic forms inspired by cathedral portals. Today, it represents the identity heart of the Rione della Croce and an urban landmark worthy of further enhancement.

TuriBorgoAntico

4 days ago3 min read