Biomasseria Lama di Luna

Why it’s on the Edit

Biomasseria Lama di Luna is a working organic farm with guest rooms, built around an 18th-century masseria at Andria, in the Alta Murgia and Castel del Monte area. The farmhouse needed three years of restoration. Its 210 hectares of olive groves, almond groves and vineyards are certified organic by AIAB-ICEA, and 48 solar panels supply the hot water and heating.

What stands out is the estate, not the amenity list: a sharecroppers’ farmhouse with forty chimneys, a pool among old olive trees and a library of more than two thousand books, the oldest from the 1500s. The price band is 2 of 5, an estimate, since no official rate was found.

The owner writes that he lives on the farm with his wife and sons. A spa and a beach are not listed, so this is a stay for quiet evenings.

The rooms

The site lists five room types: a Double Room Murgia, a Double Coloni Room marked on request, a Family Suite, a Masseria Family Suite and a Suite Deluxe Masseria. The whole farmhouse can also be booked, which the site calls the Biomasseria in esclusiva. Room sizes are not confirmed here, except for the deluxe suite.

The rooms were once settlers’ dwellings, and all have fireplaces and face an inner courtyard. The Murgia rooms are the oldest, with walls more than a meter thick and ceilings of terracotta cylinders with the bottom pierced.

The Suite Deluxe Masseria measures 60 m² and sleeps three, with a king bed. It has a sauna, a private panoramic veranda and a mini jacuzzi pool.

Beds are solid pine and olive wood, or brass from the 1800s, with natural latex mattresses.

Eating and drinking

The restaurant is reserved for guests staying overnight. In colder months you eat beside a large fireplace in the adjoining room. Opening days, menus and prices are not confirmed here.

The cooks use vegetables from the garden, fruit from the trees, eggs from the hens and produce from the surrounding land. Because the restaurant is closed to outsiders, a night here means dinner here or a drive.

The farm also arranges tastings of its extra virgin olive oil and of wine, and massage sessions on request.

In the evening there is a cinema: a hall of 100 m² where Italian art films are shown every evening.

The setting

Lama di Luna stands at the edge of the Alta Murgia National Park, among olive and almond groves and vineyards. The estate also holds a karst cave and dozens of partly restored casedd, the stone shelters of the Murgia.

The pool sits on a large terrace among old olive trees and looks over the Apulian plains.

Castel del Monte, the castle of Frederick II, is close by, and the farm arranges guided excursions to it and rents mountain bikes. The site also lists half-day itineraries. Trani, in its words, has a cathedral by the sea and one of the most beautiful ports in Italy.

Good to know

• The restaurant is open to overnight guests only.
• Room sizes are not confirmed here, except the 60 m² Suite Deluxe Masseria.
• Mountain bike rental, guided excursions and massage on request are listed.
• The whole farmhouse is available for weddings, for two consecutive nights.
• Pool size, heating, children, pets and opening months are not confirmed.
• Price band: 2 of 5 (estimated: no official rate found).

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

Couples and small groups who want a farm, quiet nights, walking in a national park and Castel del Monte close at hand will find what they came for. The fireplaces make a winter stay plausible, but opening months are not confirmed, so ask before you book one.

Look elsewhere if you want a beach, a spa or a restaurant open to non-guests. Calderoni Martini Resort in Altamura lists a private hammam in one suite and a civil-wedding license.

Getting there

Lama di Luna is in Andria, in the Alta Murgia and Castel del Monte area. Bari is the airport to use.

You need a car. The farm is on country roads, and the site’s own directions start at the A14 exit for Canosa di Puglia, then turn right toward Minervino Murge. Put the exact contrada in your navigation before you leave the motorway.