'something rich and strange': Ancient olive trees and Monopoli ~

Italian class has been very enjoyable. Every morning from 9-1. Very intense but fun. This is the routine of the course. Four hours of instruction in the morning, followed by an excursion in the afternoon. Va bene!

This afternoon we traveled to the Valle degli Ulivi Secolari. It is a wide valley that is pretty much at sea-level on the way to Monopoli and it has been used for centuries as an olive orchard. For centuries and by so many civilizations/cultures that have settled here through history. As I mentioned before, layers of civilizations: Mycenean, Greek, Roman, Phoenician, Saracen, Turk, Spanish, French….. There is something special about this valley, apparently, because it has everything olives need to thrive. The trees in this area are anywhere from 50 to 1500 years old.

Here is a special one dated at 700 years old:

Here is one that is 800 years old:

As the trees grow, they twist. That is why they almost look like lava. This is like Jurassic Park stuff. I’m stunned. And yes, these trees are still producing and considered a national treasure, as they should be.

Maybe 10 km away is the port of Monopoli. It is a town of Greek origin and has an important natural harbor (which in the 20^th and 21^st centuries they have worked to enlarge). This city has flourished from as far back as the Byzantine period. The city is lovely and has a Romanesque cathedral and of course winding streets and beautiful limestone everywhere. The castle that dominates the port area is 15-16^th century Spanish.