selva di fasano - canale di pirro
cool green spot in the sunny south
This corner of Puglia looks like green Ireland transplanted to the South of Italy in the border area of Brindsi - and Bari province. The Canale di Pirro is a natural depression of karst origin. It once was the bed of a prehistoric river and appears as a long, narrow valley between the municipalities of Putignano, Castellana Grotte, Alberobello , Monopoli, Fasano and Locorotondo. From a naturalistic point of view it separates the upper Murge of Bari from the lower Murge of Salento.
It's origin makes Canale di Pirro an enchanting valley between two chains of hills, with vineyards, almond groves and typical orchards. The area is between 500 and 1500 meters wide, extending for 12 kilometres. Temperatures are always at least 5 degrees below the hilly areas and in summer this helps a lot if you want to cool down a bit.
trulli dotting the countryside
Inside the valley, many trulli dot this peaceful countryside while, in some hamlets, you can breathe the ancient air of rural settlements when the Puglia countryside was dotted with a lot of small properties. From the hamlet of Cocolicchio in the Fasano area, characteristic for its trulli among the oldest in the region, it is possible to book excursions on foot or on bicycle along paths surrounded by stone walls and oak groves, in a multicolored countryside that in the sunshine, appears like an elegant mosaic. There is also an imposing aqueduct bridge with arches refering to the imposing pipelines of the Roman era.
hights and depts
The slopes that delimit the Canale di Pirro have very different characteristic.
The Northern one, at the top of which Selva di Fasano is located, is quite steep and with a straight line (Monte Sale, 437 m) . The Southern one, crossed by a main section of the Aqueduct, is more gently modeled and more sinuous.
The difference in height between the bottom of the Canal and the plateaus above is between 75 and 100 metres. The bottom of the Canal follows a West-East trend. At the median height it is interrupted by a counter-sloping threshold dividing the Canal into a western part, in which the height of the bottom is approximately 300 m above sea level and an eastern part where it drops to 275 m, reaching a minimum of 269 m above sea level.
In 2012 speleologists unblocked an old and well-known sinkhole, discovering a deep active cave of at least 324 metres, of which the last 60 meters are under water. The cave (Grotta Rotolo or Abisso Donato Boscia) is more than a kilometer long. The more superficial caves can be visited in the provincial border area Brindisi-Bari.
how to get there
It is nice to go to the small trulli village of Cocolicchio, in the countryside of Fasano, from there you can reach the Apulian Aqueduct path which winds for a few kilometers on the edge of the Canal. We advise to walk or rent a bicycle.
Need a break?
If you want to stop for lunch or dinner during season, public holidays or in the weekend at one of the many places scattered around the valley, remember to book at least the day before because these places are very popular among locals.