Altamura, 37 km from Villa Gioia, is a medieval town in Murgia’s heart where time seems to have stopped. The historic centre, located just inside the megalithic walls from which the village takes its name, dated back to 500 BC, it is full of palaces, churches, and legendary “cloisters”, small squares encircled by alleyways, giving the village its characteristic charm and making a trip back to this little corner of history a truly memorable experience.
The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, an impressive Romanesque Cathedral in the heart of the town, is a must-see.: begun in 1232 by Frederick II and restored in 1330, it is one of the four Palatine churches. The facade, dominated by its two towers, has a portal that dates from the 14th century, and is carved with scenes from the New Testament while the rose window dates from the 16th century.
The rose window in the facade is a rare example of 14th century Apulian style and there is also a Gothic portal, probably from the early 15th century. It is rich with decorations and sculptures, contained in a projecting porch supported on two stone lions, redone in 1533 and guarding the entrance to the Cathedral. Visit the Altamura Municipal Museum which is an impressive archaeology museum with many artefacts from the region dating back up to 2500 years. Among the most famous archaeological remains of Altamura is the Man of Altamura a complete human skeleton of an adult male, height from 160 to 165 cm, whose skull has elements of the Neanderthal population, and forms of the Homo erectus (400,000 years ago). The archaeological find, discovered in the cave of “Lamalunga” is one of the most extraordinary paleo-ontological discoveries in Europe. In the countryside outside Altamura, in the Alta Murgia National Park, you’ll find the famous“Pulo,” a remarkable karst sinkhole roughly 100 meters (c. 300 feet) deep and an abandoned quarry in the Pontrelli neighbourhood where have been found 30,000 dinosaur tracks.