Photo spot in Polignano a Mare & the Puglia coast
Monopoli — the Porto Vecchio
A working harbour of blue wooden boats under a white old town, ten minutes up the coast and a good deal calmer than Polignano.
About Monopoli — the Porto Vecchio
Get directionsThe old harbour is a shallow curve of water filled with gozzi — small wooden fishing boats painted blue and white — with the castle at one end and the cathedral bell tower over the roofs behind. It is the colour that makes it: blue hulls against pale stone, repeated forty times.
Shoot from the quay early, when the fishermen are working and the water is flat enough to hold reflections. Later, the lanes behind the harbour give shaded white walls, and Piazza Vittorio Emanuele gives an open square if you want scale. The cathedral square is a two-minute walk and is dressed stone rather than whitewash — a different look inside one session.
Monopoli is a real town rather than a viewpoint, which is the reason to come: nobody is queueing for the frame, and a session can move at walking pace.
Best time to shoot
Early morning on the quay; late afternoon in the lanes behind it
Tips
The boats are working property — keep off them unless the owner offers. Parking near the harbour is limited in summer; leave the car outside the walls.
Other spots in Polignano a Mare & the Puglia coast
Lama Monachile at sunrise
The pebble cove between two cliffs, with the old bridge across the top of it — the picture Polignano is known for, and empty for one hour a day.
The cliff terraces on the Lungomare Domenico Modugno
A promenade along the top of the cliff, with terraces that hang over the sea and put nothing but water behind your subjects.
Ostuni from the olive groves
The white city stacked on a hill above ancient olive trees — best photographed from below at the end of the day, when the lime turns cream.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know Monopoli — the Porto Vecchio — free of charge.