RESORT
On a stretch of high coastline studded with spectacular sea caves, the resort is set in a beautiful inlet overlooking the sea. From its position on a high cliff, which is covered with Aleppo pines and Mediterranean scrub, there is a view of the sea stacks that rise high above the water, only a few meters from the shore…
"One of the places you need to visit at least once in your life.”
"One of the 10 most beautiful beaches in the world."
NATURE’S SHOW
“Baia delle Zagare is a place known for its rich, namesake perfumes, where the shapes of the reef seem to imitate unreal sculptures and where the water astounds with its immaculate sheen.” The Baia delle Zagare resort, with its oriental style and dazzling whiteness, overlooks the scenic view of sculptural cliffs, designed as if they were the work of a great artist in an extravagant mood…”
HISTORY
Back in 1957, a young Apulian man, passionate about boating, nature and the sea, discovers a bay whilst sailing his boat. Named on maps as Mergoli’s Bay, it is a pristine place accessible only by sea, with its ancient paths waiting to be discovered in the adjacent woods.
It’s love at first sight!
He resolves to build a house for himself and his family but soon realizes that such a place deserves the attention of nature tourism; he decides to build a hotel. So, after several years of considerable works due to the steep and rocky terrain, the Baia delle Zagare hotel is built, named after the fragrant citrus blossoms copiously growing in the park.
More than 55 years have passed since then and the Baia delle Zagare hotel still retains its “charm.”
HISTORY THROUGH A PHOTO
Displayed inside the hotel there is a photo. Framed by the master Franco Fontana, this photo from 1970 tells a story.
Franco Fontana
“Thanks to this photograph I became famous all over the world. The French appreciated his philosophy. In 1978 – by now I had decided to bet on myself, I had given up the furniture and started taking photographs full time – I had an exhibition in Paris, where Baia delle Zagare was also there. It was 1970 and with a group of amateur photography friends we went to a hotel on the Gargano, in Puglia, called Baia delle Zagare. It’s on a small spur high above the sea, where you get there by elevator. We decided to take some photos. There are those who were attracted by the people bathing and those by the water, I was struck by that shadow that the spur cut onto the white of the beach”: this is how Franco Fontana remembers how Baia delle Zagare, one of his best-known images, was born. “Back then I wasn’t yet a professional, I sold interior furniture for a living. But I had the passion, I had even paid for a photography book on Modena with my own money, which is now a rarity for collectors.”
Alessandro Quitadamo
The artist and photographer from Mattinata, who is passionate about his local area, has exclusively produced for Hotel Baia delle Zagare the photographs seen throughout its rooms. They range from the cliffs to the olive trees and from the sea to the architectural elements. These photographs are a modern interpretation that enhances a living land, rich in colors of incomparable beauty.
Antonio Gentile
Creator and post-producer of the multimedia content available on this site and on official social network pages, partly in thanks to the use of drones.
With an everlasting passion, and thanks to constant collaboration with Hotel Baia delle Zagare, his aim is to convey the unique colors of the Gargano area and the unique emotion that being surrounded by nature can bring, and for one to imagine the contrasting scents of the forest and the sea that characterize the Gargano promontory.
Our staff
