P-Day at Altamura

Despite the pandemic, we are determined to have an outing on p-days.  Last Saturday, we drove about 50km south of Bari to a lovely city on a hill called Altamura (highwall).  From its idyllic location, we could look down towards low coastal plain near Bari.  In the other direction we could see the mountains of Basilicata.  

We toured an archaeological museum that was pretty interesting with the artifacts from lots of digs in the province of Puglia.  Perhaps the most interesting is a fossilized skeleton that was found in a cave.  The bones have been fossilized with stalactite and stalagmite calcifications.  

After the museum, we walked through the old town to piazza del duomo, then into the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption.  Although completed in the early 1200s, the interior has been updated to 17^th century art, sculpture and décor.  It is simply stunning.  The green and pink marble along with the column design and ornamentation seem like a mix of Florentine and Venetian architecture. 

We then strolled along narrow cobblestone streets and came upon Paneficio Santa Caterina, a bakery that has been around for nearly 300 years.  We walked in and I selected this focaccia fresh out of the oven, a loaf of bread and two bottles of sparkling water. We sat at an outdoor table and enjoyed the focaccia and took the bread home for later.  It was a great p-day adventure.