Relais Monastero Santa Teresa is a beautiful Boutique Hotel treasured by the town as a historical 14th Century Baronial Palace. Having undergone many transformations over the centuries from palace to monastery, stately office to home to the barons and baronesses of Salento, this hideaway retains its heritage and its splendour with dignity and honour, yet whimsically whisks you away with the romance of an old Italy. A place that seems to surpass the changing tides of time and remain deeply embedded in its charm and its nobility, existing as it did in the Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, to now.
It’s ten beautifully spacious suites – all sentimentally named – span the antique cocciopesto, parquet and mosaic floors, the frescoed, vaulted ceilings, down long, meandering corridors and secret passageways.
The prestige of each space is palpable as you traverse through the ancient stone courtyard with its trickling fountain, out onto balconies and terraces of the palazzo that deliver breathtaking views of the neighbouring Baroque churches and perfectly manicured gardens. Into the “Hall of Music” room that’s embellished in soft pinks and refined furnishings. Sculptures by the revered Giovanni Maria Tarantino adorn languid seating areas on the ground floor.
The ambience of the hotel incites a holiday of lavish grandeur and notoriety, yet simultaneously settles you with a humble simplicity; connecting you and your travelling companions to the rich culture of the town, its community of cordial residents and the affable air of riposo tranquillo that does very little convincing to have you completely enraptured in its sentiment.
The church bells will beckon you out into the town in the morning for a bit of exploring, though it’s entirely still and quiet before the evening. Perhaps some beach hopping and inland adventures to the ancient olive groves and vineyards, the famous tulli houses and masserias. After siesta, the town square comes to life with multigenerational families gathering to feast and sing and dance the night away. You’ll be out until the stars light the lanes back to the hotel, where you’ll retire to your suite for one last tipple of indulgence on the terrace. There’s another day of feasting and frolicking in the sun ahead.
Whether it’s you and your clan or just you and your love, this place has a way of making the days seem longer and lighter, the food taste silky and succulent, the moods sprightly and sincere, and the want for any other kind of life to dissipate, as you retreat within the walls of your very own palace.