Romantic Italian villa with superb heated pool and beautiful gardens near Oria

This simple yet stylish villa provides comfortable, traditional and spacious accommodation for up to eight people in four double/twin bedrooms, and is especially suited for family groups.
Dating from around 1850, it has been extended and modernised with artisan features such as Italian Vietri ceramics and Tuscan chestnut doors. Recent improvements include an updated kitchen which provides excellent amenities while preserving traditional artisan methods of construction.
A brand new 6x12 metre heated swimming pool has been recently completed and features a 3 square metre shallow water tanning ledge at one end, where young children can enjoy supervised use of the pool. The rest of the pool is a constant 1.4 metre depth, which makes it ideal for exercise swimming as well as recreations like water volley-ball and family fun. The pool is surrounded by a sunbathing terrace, with a large shaded pergola at one end, creating a gorgeous space for poolside relaxation in sympathy with the origins of the villa.
Air conditioning is provided in all the bedrooms and in the living room and a modern energy efficient solar/heat pump system ensures plenty of hot water at all times. Water is supplied from an artesian well with filtration to provide a clean and safe supply in the kitchen for cooking and drinking.
A satellite link provides a stable internet connection and Wifi is available throughout the villa. A large desk in the ingresso makes a convenient working area if you require it.
A large courtyard containing a terrace and citrus garden surrounds the South and West sides of the villa, creating a spacious outdoor dining area where guests can relax in peace and tranquillity. Two lockable gates make the courtyard a very secure space for young children to play outdoors.
Shaded dining is provided for both large and small groups and diners will enjoy the intoxicating scent of bougainvillea, hibiscus and jasmine, mixed with citrus tones, especially in the evening.

The grounds are a special feature of Villa dell’Amicizia, containing a wide variety of mature trees and tropical plants that create zones with distinctly different ambience within the gardens. Guests are encouraged to roam the grounds and enjoy the natural tranquillity, generally only interrupted by birdsong or the wind soughing through the trees. For a diversion, children can play our I-Spy Cats game, to spot the 9 cats that inhabit our grounds.
The gardens contain many fruit trees and guests are welcome to pick the fruit when ripe, which, depending on the time of the year, includes lemon, orange, kumquat, fig, persimmon, apple, pear, cherry, apricot, plum, prickly pear, quince, Chinese date, pomegranate, mulberry and walnut.
There are over 200 olive trees in our grounds, mostly young, but also some grand old gnarled specimens.
For those with some energy to burn, a lap of the vine walkway and driveway is exactly 400 metres and there is a table tennis table and a basket ball hoop for added entertainment.
ORIA (2km walk from the villa)
Oria sits midway along the final section of the ancient “Via Appia”, connecting the port cities of Taranto (35 minutes by car) and Brindisi (25 minutes by car). The city skyline is dominated by its Swabian castle and the bright ceramic tiles of the cathedral dome. The labyrinthine streets of the old town are punctuated by small artisanal shops and the cozy piazzas buzz with conversation beneath the umbrellas and awnings of cafe’s, bistro’s, pizzeria’s and gelateria’s. Old traditions live on here, with many of the city’s inhabitants taking advantage of the cooler evening temperatures to take a “passeggiata serale” (evening stroll) and enjoy a chat with family and friends they meet on their way.
There is an abundance of choices when shopping for groceries, with numerous family run bakeries, butchers, fishmongers, greengrocers, delicatessens and wine shops dotted around the city, along with several supermarkets inside the city and on the outskirts. There are also two market days when stalls of all varieties are set out on the street.
Oria boasts some excellent restaurants and pizzerias with prices to suit all pockets, serving a mix of traditional Pugliese dishes and more contemporary Italian fare, which can be washed down with a fantastic range of the region’s wines.
The usual summer entertainments come to a standstill in the first week of August as medieval fever grips the city for the annual “Torneo di Rione”, a feast of colourful costumes flags and pageantry commemorating the marriage in 1225 between Frederick the second, Holy Roman Emperor, and Isabella the second of Jerusalem. After a week of festivities and ceremonies, seemingly involving everyone in the city, there is a grand parade and a tournament where teams of athletes from the four quarters of the city compete over a series of tricky obstacle courses for bragging rights for the next 12 months. Tickets for the tournament sell out fast and the spectators enthusiastically cheer their teams, which are usually mostly comprised of friends and relatives.