Masseria Terre di Traiano

Why it’s on the Edit

Masseria Terre di Traiano is an organic agriturismo, a working farm that offers rooms and meals, in Andria, in the Alta Murgia and Castel del Monte area. It sits on a farm of over 100 hectares, about 90 of them olive groves, beside the Alta Murgia National Park. The site says the project grew out of an eco-sustainable farm, through the legacy of the Spagnoletti Zeuli family.

It earns its entry as a working organic estate with an old oil press, rooms in a masseria and a second life as an events venue, at the first of five price bands (an estimate, since no dated official rate was found).

The agriturismo is open from March to November.

The rooms

The site lists three kinds of room, and all are 12 m² with a private bathroom. Double rooms with a French bed face the inner courtyard and the avenue. Twin rooms and doubles for single use look toward the Murgia and the sea.

At 12 m² the rooms are compact. The site says the view from them runs from Monte Vulture to the Gargano.

Rates include an organic breakfast with local products, and the site lists child rates for under-3s and for ages 3 to 8. Air conditioning, a TV and Wi-Fi are not confirmed here.

Eating and drinking

Breakfast is the meal the site describes. It comes from the organic farm: jams and marmalades, figs, grapes and the usual bread, oil and tomato.

The site also lists an evening on the terrace, with local specialties and a view that runs from Castel del Monte to the Gargano, past Andria and Barletta. A public restaurant is not confirmed here, and neither is dinner.

For events the kitchen cooks in-house with chefs from the area. If you plan to eat in the evening, ask the masseria what it serves on nights without an event.

The setting

The farm stands in Contrada Torre di Bocca, next to the Alta Murgia National Park. The inner courtyard receives guests, and the site describes the old press and the oil museum as a trip through history and culture.

The oil museum occupies spaces once used as stables and carriage stores, later for making and storing oil and wine. It is open by appointment.

By the late 1700s the family already owned vast tracts of land along the Via Traiana, and the carriage house and stables were later converted into a mechanical olive mill.

The oil is pressed only from Coratina olives, organic, and has been bottled since 1998. The family began restoring the building in 1999, opened the estate to agritourism in 2004 and was among the first farms registered as an educational farmstead in 2008.

The estate runs on photovoltaic panels, and the lawns are watered from a cistern fed by rainwater. Events include concerts, conferences and theater and dance performances.

Good to know

• Open from March to November.
• All rooms are 12 m² with a private bathroom.
• The oil museum is open to all by appointment.
• Guests can buy the estate’s organic oil and wine, which the site says are ICEA certified.
• Weddings use the Arches, Almonds and Wheat halls, the Belvedere garden and the courtyard.
• A pool, a spa, a public restaurant, pets and air conditioning are not confirmed here.
• Price band: 1 of 5 (estimated: no dated official rate found).

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

Travelers who want a plain organic farm, a quiet room for the night and an oil museum next door, in the season between March and November, will be content. The estate lies beside the Alta Murgia National Park.

Look elsewhere if you want a pool, a spa, a restaurant or a room with space. Biomasseria Lama di Luna is another organic farm in the same park, with a pool and a restaurant for its guests.

Getting there

Masseria Terre di Traiano is on the Strada Provinciale 12 in Andria, in the Alta Murgia and Castel del Monte area. Bari is the nearer airport.

You need a car. The masseria stands alone in the countryside, and Castel del Monte, the park and the coast are separate drives. The agriturismo runs from March to November, so plan a spring-to-autumn trip and ask whether an event is booked on your dates.