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Between stones and stories
of an authentic village
Discover the enchantment of the ancient village of Turi, amidst cobbled alleys, hidden squares, and centuries-old stories. A journey that takes you back in time, to experience the authenticity of a place rich in culture, tradition, and charm.


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


Confessions of an Italian-American
Doreen: An Italian-American Rediscovering Her Roots

TuriBorgoAntico
4 days ago4 min read


That Wonderful Scent of Fresh Bread and the Alley Felt Like One Big Family
The Addante bakery, known as “Cicoria”, was the ancient heart of Turi: a place where the scent of bread filled the narrow streets and brought the community together. Founded in the 16th century, between stone and fire it preserved gestures, traditions and everyday solidarity. Not just a bakery, but an extended family — a living memory of a town where the smell of bread meant home, sharing and identity.

TuriBorgoAntico
Feb 92 min read


Oronzo De Carolis. When a Town Searched for a Sign
In the aftermath of the First World War, a wounded Turi sought signs rather than answers. Oronzo De Carolis, a humble and devout man, claimed to hear Sant’Oronzo within the grotto beneath the church. Around him grew a collective ожидation shaped by hope, visions and excess. The Church and the authorities intervened. It was not deception, but faith pushed to its limits: the mirror of an entire community searching for meaning.

TuriBorgoAntico
Jan 272 min read


When a Painting Breathes Again
A canvas from 1749 comes back to life in Turi. The Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Joseph Calasanzio, restored thanks to the Dell’Aera–Arrè family, was unveiled on 6 December 2025 in the Church of San Domenico. More than an artistic restoration, it is an act of collective memory that returns to the town the history of the Piarists and reaffirms the value of education as a common good.

TuriBorgoAntico
Jan 92 min read


Giovanni Maria Sabino, the sound born in Turi that travelled through Naples
Giovanni Maria Sabino (1588–1649), born in Turi, is a key figure of the emerging Neapolitan musical school. A composer and priest, he lived through the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque, blending liturgical rigour with intense expressiveness. His motets, psalms and cantatas engage in dialogue with the great European music of the 17th century. Today, his work lives on thanks to the Baroque Ensemble Giovanni Maria Sabino, which gives voice once again to music of pr

TuriBorgoAntico
Jan 92 min read


Turi, the city rising from the earth
Turi is a town that emerges from the earth. From prehistory to the medieval period, its subsoil reveals traces of Eneolithic settlements, Peucetian necropolises, monumental tombs and ancient walls. Discoveries made in areas such as Via Castellana, Lamarossa, Piazza Chiesa and the surroundings of the Library tell a millennia-old story that is often overlooked. A widespread archaeological heritage that still awaits full recognition and enhancement as a key element of the area’s

TuriBorgoAntico
Jan 24 min read


The Stone That PraysStefano da Putignano and the Apulian Renaissance
In Turi, inside the Mother Church, the Renaissance takes shape in the stone carved by Stefano da Putignano. Sculptor and architectus of the late 15th and early 16th centuries, he gives voice to a concrete, popular devotion through Madonnas, Saints and monumental groups. In a Puglia marked by wars and hardship, his art blends Romanesque roots with Renaissance language in an authentic and powerful style, one that has remained alive through the centuries.

TuriBorgoAntico
Jan 22 min read
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