Between stones and stories
of an authentic village

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.

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.

Doreen: An Italian-American Rediscovering Her Roots

In the Church of San Giovanni Battista in Turi, a 17th-century Immaculate Conception is preserved, the work of the friar-painter Fra Antonio da Conversano, commissioned by Giovanni Domenico Gonnelli. The canvas, marked by apocalyptic iconography and rich in biblical symbolism, reflects the sophisticated Franciscan Marian theology of the seventeenth century. Today, the artwork is severely damaged and requires urgent restoration to safeguard its historical, artistic and devotio

At the Borsa Internazionale del Turismo in Milan, within the official stand of the Regione Puglia, the initiative “Cuori di Sapori” was presented as part of the strategic development path of Turi Borgo Antico, entrusted to Graf Srl.

In the dialect of Turi, some expressions are more than words: they are layered stories, cultural inheritances that come from far away. “Jèje figghie alla gaddìna bianghe” is one of them.

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.

Turi thrives on a continuous succession of events that, throughout the year, tell stories of tradition, community and identity. Food festivals, folk celebrations, cultural events and moments of conviviality transform the town into a lively, shared space, where each season brings new opportunities to connect and to discover the character of the area.

In the Apulian context, “meh” is less a word with a fixed meaning than a flexible expressive unit, capable of conveying multiple meanings through a single tone of voice — much like a glance, a shrug, or a facial expression, but verbalized. This quality makes it a distinctive feature of everyday communication, not only in dialects, but also in contemporary popular culture.

Tette delle Monache tell a story of grace and technique, of careful hands and unhurried time, born behind the grilles of convents in southern Italy. In Altamura, nuns perfected light sponge mixtures and velvety creams, shaping soft domes of sponge cake filled and delicately dusted with icing sugar. Today, this pastry is a symbol of authentic Puglia: a fragment of memory in which sweetness is born of restraint, care and silence.

In Turi, Fecàzze a sfuègghie is more than a focaccia: it is a ritual. Born as a humble food made of flour, water and generous amounts of olive oil, it is distinguished by its book-style layering, which creates both crisp and tender layers. Prepared on feast days and baked in a wood-fired oven, it is a symbol of ancient rural knowledge — now almost forgotten, yet still able to tell the story of the land’s identity and living memory.

Behind the grilles of the Monastery of Santa Chiara in Turi, in the 17th century marked by plague, famine and poverty, the lives of the Poor Clare nuns unfold amid hunger, silence and strict discipline. The Santa Visita of 1659 reveals accounts in deficit, lost incomes and food reduced to the bare minimum. Burdened by costly dowries, illness and an ever more rigid enclosure, the nuns endured: a fragile yet resilient community that transformed deprivation into a silent testimo

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.

In the heart of Puglia, in Turi, devotion to Sant’Oronzo is born from a grotto and unfolds across three centuries of history. From 1726, following the apparition to Fra’ Tommaso da Carbonara, the cult takes shape between popular faith and official recognition. The Distinta Relazione of 1757, the construction of the church, and the 20th-century events surrounding Oronzo De Carolis tell the story of a living, complex devotion that remains deeply tied to local identity today.

The monument to Sant’Oronzo in Turi, created between 1916 and 1917, was born from a vow made by Gennaro Valerio after an unexpected recovery. Carved in tuff stone, the statue embodies a deep, popular devotion, expressed through episcopal symbols and the words engraved on the base: “I will protect and save this city.” An artwork that weaves together faith, memory and emigration, becoming a collective promise and a powerful symbol of the community’s identity.

He was born in Turi in 1899 and died at just 18 years of age on Monte Corno on 4 March 1918. A farm labourer from a humble family, he was called up very young and assigned to the Bersaglieri. His life was cut short amid the cold, mud and fighting of the First World War. Remembering him means giving a voice to a generation sacrificed too soon and preserving a memory that belongs to the entire community.

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.

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

In the Church of the Poor Clares in Turi, the Nativity with Saint Mark and the Crucifixion by Samuele Tatulli narrate the full arc of Christ’s life: from the light of birth to the sacrifice of the Cross. Two mirror-like canvases, attributed to the Apulian painter through the studies of Giovanni Boraccesi, engage in a dialogue of colour, suffering and hope, offering an intense visual meditation—marked by time, yet still able to speak to the heart.

A short artistic pilgrimage leads through the churches of Turi in search of the Nativity of Jesus: from the intimate, silent 17th-century miniature of the Rosary in San Giovanni Battista, to the 18th-century scene on the altar of Our Lady of Terra Rossa in the Mother Church, and finally to the dynamic, luminous canvas by Samuele Tatulli in Santa Chiara. Three perspectives, three eras, one single mystery: Bethlehem, the light that changed history.