Masseria Salecchia

Why it’s on the Edit

Masseria Salecchia is a masseria of the 1700s above Bovino, in the Monti Dauni, the Apennine hills at the western edge of Puglia. It was a hunting residence of the Guevara dukes, and in 1933 two brothers, Pietro and Francesco Antonio D’Innocenzio, bought the hunting reserve from the fifth Duke of Guevara. The family now runs it in its third generation.

The estate is 350 hectares of protected natural area at 600 to 900 meters, and the masseria is a working farm. It raises native breeds, makes sheep cheese from raw milk and cures meat from the black pig of the Monti Dauni.

It is filed here as an agriturismo and educational farm, not as a luxury stay.

The rooms

The masseria has about ten rooms, six of them named after plants: Biancospino, Ciclamino, Ginestra, Mora, Rosa Canina and Ginepro. The farm describes them as spacious and bright, in a traditional rustic Puglian style, and recently renovated.

Every room has Wi-Fi, a bath set, a hairdryer and a fridge. Rooms are tidied daily, and linen is changed every two days. Each room is flagged as pet-friendly.

Two other options sit apart. Casone nel Bosco is a suite in the woods with a kitchenette, which the farm pitches as an intimate place. Residenza Sant’Antonio is an annex in the old center of Deliceto, with a kitchenette and parking next to it.

Eating and drinking

The restaurant cooks Puglian dishes from the farm and the territory, built on the Mediterranean diet. The farm serves breakfast, lunch and dinner on a menu that changes with the seasons, and, weather permitting, meals can be taken outside under the mulberry trees.

The cheese comes from the farm’s own dairy. The raw-milk sheep cheeses are one of the family’s projects, along with the black-pig cured meats.

Cooking lessons are given in Italian or English by a cook of the farm, and followed by lunch or dinner with wine. They cover fresh pasta, grain bread, panzerotti, focaccia, taralli and friselle. There is also a dairy workshop that takes you from milk to cheese.

The setting

The setting is woodland and pasture. The estate is an EU site of community interest. Flocks of the Gentile di Puglia sheep graze the hills, and the farm runs an adopt-a-sheep scheme to protect the breed.

The park has a playground with a picnic area, mountain bikes for adults and children on marked and georeferenced routes, and a tree-top adventure park with 18 platforms. The adventure park opens at weekends in spring and autumn and daily in summer, and the days can change with the weather, so call before you go.

Beyond the gate are Bovino, Deliceto with its Norman-Swabian castle, Sant’Agata di Puglia, which the farm calls the loggia of Puglia, Troia and Lucera.

Good to know

• Pets: dogs and cats are admitted in rooms and common areas, on a leash outdoors, and must be declared at booking.
• The adventure park is open at weekends in spring and early autumn, and every day in summer.
• The farm also runs a music campus, summer camps, school visits and meeting facilities, so groups and events are part of the picture.
• Opening months and children’s policies for the rooms are not confirmed here.
• Price band: 1 of 5 (estimated: no official rate found).

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

It suits families with children, dog owners, small groups and anyone who wants to see a working sheep farm in the hills. Work groups are catered for too, with a 120 m² meeting room.

If a pool, a spa or a beach decides the trip, none is confirmed here. For another farm stay in the area, see Masseria Casacapanna, and for a city option in Foggia, Hotel Up. The Foggia and the Monti Dauni hub lists the rest.

Getting there

Masseria Salecchia is on a provincial road above Bovino, in the Foggia and the Monti Dauni area. For an international flight, Bari is the nearer airport.

A car is needed, both to reach the farm and to see the hill villages of the Monti Dauni. Bovino itself stands in the Cervaro valley, facing the Tavoliere plain, and the farm is above it on the hills.