Monopoli, one of the most visited destinations in Puglia, also thanks to many of its features such as friselle, sea urchins and coves. A mini guide to find out which are the best and least crowded coves and places to eat in Monopoli, obviously low cost.
This summer the chosen holiday destination was the Apulia. Many had told me about it and I was very curious to find out what was so special about it, well, actually it has some spectacular friselle with olive oil and tomato, a warm and transparent sea with intense colors and a truly remarkable cultural and nocturnal liveliness. Certainly boredom doesn't belong to these places! I got into the car with a couple of friends, and we decided to rent a nice stone house in the center of Monopoli.
We found it, just the one we dreamed of, located in Old Town next to the Cathedral of Maria Santissima della Madia, church rebuilt on the remains of a pagan temple dedicated to the cult of the divinities Maia and Mercury, with a splendid crypt and then transformed into a baroque, truly unmissable especially during the procession dedicated to the Virgin Mary that animate it in August.
I was saying, we had an artistic jewel next to it (always remember that the houses next to the churches have a really seductive atmosphere, especially if they have terraces overlooking the illuminated windows, but in the morning they have the disadvantage of the bells that invite to mass, beginning our awakenings were a little abrupt as the wonderful late night returns, admiring the illuminated church in awe, but you know, you can't have everything in life!) and a few streets away the ancient port with the Castle of Charles V and the Barracks, both built under the Spanish domination in the XNUMXth century, today the Barracks has become a library and often within the complex you can also visit photographic or pictorial exhibitions as well as admire the sea seen from above.
The center of Monopoli is a continuous junction of narrow up and down stone alleys that allow you to reach small squares where you can often find clubs and restaurants with outdoor tables where you can devour abundantly fish dinners, pizzas or where to simply sip a good glass of joy of the hill, red and robust to accompany with seared taralli or white and tomato focaccia, but if you are looking for cocktails, move outside or to the new area, for spirits and lively evenings this is not the right place.
The old part is surrounded by sturdy walls and is located overlooking the sea, while the new part with wider and airy streets expands inwards, the port area is decidedly more beautiful and characteristic where in August, precisely on the 14th, during the Party for the re-enactment of the Madonna della Madia the locals and the many tourists accompany the statue of the Madonna in procession from the Cathedral to the port and then see it set sail towards the sea and circumnavigate the inlet of the city, a very suggestive sight that remains etched in the memory.
Monopoly also owns one of the largest squares in Italy, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, and if you are in the Cathedral area you can easily proceed inwards along the church, turn under the arch and after the underpass find yourself in Piazza XX Settembre here you can admire the ancient heart of the city, in fact from time immemorial it was and still is today, the fruit and vegetable market very appreciable for the really cheap prices, late on Saturdays you can stock up by taking home everything more.
If you are in the area of ​​the ancient port, right at the entrance, jump to the Trattoria "the port of Don Peppe" it would be worth doing, especially if you want to taste typical dishes of the area such as cavatelli (typical local pasta) with seafood and mixed house appetizers.
Others great restaurants in the central area: “Il Guazzetto” and “La vecchia Taverna” where the terrine of orecchiette with tomato and cheese is delicious and can be eaten both inside and on the terrace.
Next to Piazza XX Settembre there is a street that leads directly to the sea, there you will find some excellent bakeries one after the other to stock up on focaccia, taralli, tarallini, various sweets often stuffed with jam or made with pasta almonds.
If, on the other hand, you want to have a drink, perhaps listening to music, you prefer the streets that run along the sea in the center, there the premises are narrower, the air arrives less and the prices are higher. Excellent cocktails al Porto Rosso, a place overlooking the sea a stone's throw from the center towards the beaches of the Capitolo where the young people of the place and not only meet and where thanks to the cove below you can also take a nice midnight swim, the water is very hot and the place absolutely quiet, often families also gather to spend the evening together eating something right on the beach.
If what you are looking for is spectacular water then Monopoli and its numerous coves are for you, but remember the rubber shoes if you have delicate feet because some have an entrance with some rocks scattered here and there, but all those that may seem difficult are equipped with a jetty and ladder, so there are never problems, maybe the children will be a bit in difficulty because the sea becomes deep almost immediately.
But if you are looking for the immense and isolated beaches of Salento you have really got the wrong address, here the longest sandy beach with a sloping seabed and also suitable for children it is located a few km from the center, in the district of Capitolo, it is a very busy area, it allows both to have access to the free beach, and to rent umbrellas and sunbeds, an economic and pleasant environment, the water is not as beautiful as that you will find in the coves but absolutely enjoyable, moreover each bathroom has bars and restaurants and on the waterfront pass the street vendors selling costumes, clothes and slushes, take advantage of it, the almond milk one is very good.
Even the most beautiful coves are all moved towards the Chapter true nerve center of the seaside and nightlife of the Monopolitans, if you don't want to take the car try the one in Porto Rosso, very clean sea but if you go in August avoid it on Saturdays and Sundays, you can't even pass by how many people there is.
Other interesting coves are Cala Verde, splendid for the natural context in which it is immersed, Porto Nero where the establishment called "the Black Pearl" is located. theme parties once a week and a little further on the Lido Pellerossa, here too, the possibility of dining and renting umbrellas and sunbeds at affordable prices, all the coves organize aperitifs and parties during the summer, but they rotate and you have to keep up to date with the local newspapers or pay attention to the advertisements displayed on road signs to always be up to date.
La treat which I can highly recommend is to drop by Porto Ghiacciolo, a small cove that comes alive on Sundays and offers a very long aperitif which starts from 14,00 in the afternoon and lasts until the evening, the best mojito in all of Monopoli is drunk there, the sea is splendid, the prices low, just remember to arrive early because the place is small and being an event very well known it is difficult to get sun beds and umbrellas, moreover in that cove there is the Abbey of Santo Stefano, a jewel of Baroque art to visit strictly after having found a suitable accommodation on the beach for your towels!
Ps: Vicolo Corto, Narrow alley o Avenue of the Gardens, nothing at all, if you choose Monopoli as the destination of your next trip you will surely suffer the requests of very witty friends but I already warn you that you will not find them, and try not to be too disappointed.
