History

Masseria Torre Abate Risi is situated in the countryside of Fasano in the province of Brindisi, between Savelletri and Torre Canne, right next to the Valle d’Itria. The Adriatic sea is within easy reach, just a kilometer away.
The Masseria Torre Abate Risi dates back to the 16th century, built in a style typical of the farmsteads of the period and comprised of the land-owner’s residence, farm-workers’ dwellings, stables, storerooms, and watchtower.
The building was constructed in blocks of tufo, a sedimentary pyroclastic rock of volcanic origin. The floors are paved with “chianche”, smooth tiles obtained from local limestone.

When we think of a Masseria, we inevitably think of Puglia and its important agricultural tradition, but not only. We think of a region scattered with the traces of the various civilisations to have populated this part of Southern Italy over the centuries: from the Messapi or Peuceti, the first inhabitants of the zone, to the Greeks who identified in Puglia the ideal conditions for the expansion of their dominion. After the Greeks came the Romans; for whom Puglia occupied a role of prime importance, as major exporter of olive oil towards the East.

With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Puglia passed under the rule of the Byzantine Empire, before becoming territory of the Normans and, later, the Svevi.
Under the reign of the Hohenstaufen family, Puglia enjoyed a period of considerable prosperity, and with the coming to power of Federico II, the ‘Puer Apuliae’, the region reached its maximum splendour. It was in this period that great part of Puglia’s castles and fortifications were built, the most important of which is, undoubtedly, the Castel del Monte, close to the town of Andria.