Yoga retreat in southern Italy

Our life style, based and tuned on respect and love for nature, enviroment and territory and culture has produced a community of people who love to promote a new culture. We have restored not only the buildings and farm but also the ancient country life style.

I’m a local man. This is my hometown. All people who work here are locals: we employ local cooks, gardeners, drivers. We engaged only local companies for restoration, land working, tree care etc. We have invested all our financial resources in this territory – all activities are organised employing local drivers or local operators. All our food, vegetables, cheese, pasta, bread, is local because we love it; the quality is very high. We have bought beds, chairs and a table from local shops.

Our aim is to create and save a part of natural territory and its ancient culture to offer to our guests the chance to experience yoga and community life in a Natural Reserve. We are creatinng the first Natural reserve totally dedicated to yoga and spiritual activities, that means a complete respect for Mother Nature and her sons.

We use solar energy and we are setting a wind system, ready for next year. A strict policy for water consumption is applied in our venue, because our land has a problem with water resources; we use only showers, spray shower heads, changing towels/sheets once a week. Our products for cleaning are made from olive oil, made by a local farm called Acropoli, that give us all we need. Our garden is organic, we don’t use any synthetic or chemical products.

Wildlife & conservation: our property has been created for developing a reserve for local typical species of animals like sheeps, horses, birds. People can visit us to enjoy a enviroment where local species like the famous horse of Martina Franca can run free. We are creating a property totally dedicated to natural species, protected by hunters.

We are a community of people who are looking for a new dimension of relationship in harmony with the natural enviroment and cultural habits of the precious countryside. We support local projects e.g. In Alberobello there is an association called Trullo Sovrano that promote the ancient culture of Trulley. They organised a folk music festival in the summer and we helped them with sponsorship. We are discussing how we can support Umanesimo della pietra, association for conserving the old tradition of stone working and sculpturing.

We offer our guests excursions and contact with local cultural activities, like The Holi Week, a series of devotional processions in easter or the festival della Valle d'Itria, the most important lyrical music festival of mediterranean area, in Martina Franca. The list of events is so rich that every week there is something to do.

Our local markets are very appealing, and in Grottaglie there are a lot of old ceramic shops. There are dozens of typical restaurants in the area near to us and most of them have a special relationship with us, especially the Slow Food restaurant, supporting the important Italian association who choose very special places to eat.