Cisternino, a town which with Alberobello, Locorotondo and Martina Franca, marks the boundary of the Itria Valley. The white limestone houses of this tidy and graceful centre, situated on the hill, break up the intense green of the fertile countryside, dotted with Trulli. Of Messapian origin, Cisternino was once a Roman municipality called Stunium, while in mediaval times it became a possesion of the Basilian monks.
The old town has a typically oriental look: its houses contain heddern courtyards and their floors are connected by external stairways. One can also see a quadrangular Norman-Swabian Tower and the much renovated Romanesque Church of S. Nicola. The latter houses a 1517 statue of the Madonna and Child by Stefano da Putignano, better known as the Madonna del Cardellino.
Some corners of the town offer tantalizing glimpses of the Valley, while in the area of Cisternino, near the Ottava Farm, one can see a large, interestinng Dolmen. There is a short walk along a suggestive labirinth of white lanes above which little arches stand. Here you can get a chance to see some of the different artistic beauties of the wonderful old town, starting from the old main church, consecrated to S.Nicola, and then looking for some valuable palaces (the Governator palace, the Baron palace). Stand on a small hill from where the eye sweeps over both Martina Franca and the Itria valley. Market day is held on Monday mornings in the hystorical center.
