Noble, almost austere in the style but softened by the pure white of the lime decorated on the edge of a warm yellow like the sun. So Masseria Casaburo introduces itself, stowering over a silvery sea of centuries-old olive trees, sitting as an elegant lady on a terrace overlooking the sea on the horizon. Then, just you turn your gaze behind and you get lost in the woods that surround it and climb all the way up to Selva di Fasano.
We are in Gravinella area, the first hills overlooking the plain of Fasano. Here, the owners Luciana and Donato tell us, along the line that follows the sinuous hills, there were several farms that served as a post office and shelter to the flocks and their shepherds. Of this portion of the past the farm preserves the area around the trulli, a court dating back to 1694. The main building, with large ceilings with starshaped vaulted ceilings on the main floor and the farmer’s house and stables on the ground floor, is more recent and dates from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. In the home, Luciana says us, it does not need any structural intervention, but simply a refresher. In fact, these areas of great charm, where elegance and practicality combine to put at ease not only those who live there but also those who enter for the first time, were still inhabited by the family Mancini.
Till to-day Masseria Casaburo is a working farm, occupied by the owners. Around there are less than 27 hectares of centuries-old olive trees surveyed and georeferenced by the Puglia Region, almond trees and Mediterranean bush. Walking through the countryside around, then, between the donkeys breed “Cross of St. Andrew”, you will come across one of the many caves that abound in the area. But this, tell us accompanying us Luciana and Donato passionate speleologists, it is more particularly the other since from the name: Grave of the Afflicted. In fact, according to tradition, the cavity was used as a burial ground for the bodies of the dead because of the terrible plague that in 1656 and in 1690-91 struck Puglia. Explorations of recent years have not found the remains of bodies but that does not mean that the popular tradition is not true, but that probably lie beneath tons of rubble discharged inside the cavity during the clearing of fields bordering. We assure you however that is just a legend what the people tell about the echoes of the cries of the imprisoned souls who in the past has created an aura of fear around the grave. Today the countryside around the Masseria Casaburo resonates only the braying of donkeys, and all around just peace and quiet.
For guests two solutions: Casina, made in the old stable, and Trulli with their courtyard, far from “prying eyes”. Family-friendly accommodation in Casina, decorated with care, according to tradition, available with 4 beds + one, a patio overlooking the countryside shaded by the foliage of majestic mulberry trees, a kitchen with its fireplace, bathroom with a shower, a living room with two beds and a double bedroom. This apartment is equipped with everything, from the fridge-freezer to the oven, from the washer to the dryer, from heating to the laundry and to the dishes, from the outdoor shower on the barbecue for grilled with friends, up to safe guard the precious.
After a careful renovation that made the past the strong point on which to complete the new, in a delicate balance between tradition and modernity, guests can enjoy another corner of relax, to spend their moments with family and friends: Trulli. In this complex of sophisticated harmony an important role is played by the materials, mostly existing, recovered or replaced, that are the real soul of the place. A coexistence of old and new motifs characterizes the furniture: the kitchen in the original trullo fireplace and living room with a table and a divan-bed in a trullo, with access to the outer court, as well as in the master bedroom in another trullo, this is a mixture where the choices dictated by practical reasons are lightened and customized by the constant presence of “romantic” details.
Details of atmosphere that find their secret correspondence in the colors and scents of the surroundings, where it seems to prevail decisively the “reasons of the heart”.
An important detail, very important for us, pets are welcome! And our Arturo, besides being able to roam free and happy for the whole area including the large courtyard paved in stone on which in the past was dried grain, has enjoyed caresses and cuddles of the hosts.
Masseria Casaburo
Via Gravinella 118, Fasano – Brindisi
Info: +39 080 4392861 – +39 339 2018788
www.masseriacasaburo.it – info@masseriacasaburo.it
