Inhabited since the Stone Age, the town was destroyed during the Punic Wars by Hannibal. When the Greeks rebuilt the town, they renamed it Astu neon, meaning "new town." The name eventually became Ostuni.
After the Western Roman Empire collapsed, periods of stability and instability alternated in Ostuni as various groups such as the Ostrogoths and Normans sought to control southern Italy. This reveals why buildings march up the hillside like a pile of blocks, clustered closely together within enormous walls.
Ostuni is organized into levels, based on the class system. Poor people lived near the bottom of the hill in one room apartments, whose small size is revealed by the closeness of the doors.
As you wander up the steep narrow passageways, the doors become fancier and farther apart. During the Renaissance, Ostuni was an artistic center and near the hilltop wealth was shown in Baroque sculptures around the doors.
The image above shows the main plaza of the town. On the right you can see the remains of a tower that helped protect the town during the middle ages. Below is a closer view of one of the gates in the building above.
Above is the Baroque decoration on a clock at the main square. Below you can see the Baroque elements on balconies around the main square.
Below are additional images of Ostuni.
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