# Ostuni > Ostuni is the White City on its hill above the olive groves — and many masserie around it can host a legally binding civil wedding. - URL: https://lensandvows.com/italy/puglia/ostuni - Puglia: https://lensandvows.com/italy/puglia - Italy: https://lensandvows.com/italy - Italiano: https://lensandvows.com/it/italy/puglia/ostuni.md - Lens & Vows: https://lensandvows.com/ Ostuni’s old town stands on a promontory 218 metres high, about 7 km from the Adriatic: narrow paved lanes and white houses stacked over one another, painted with lime, rising to the cathedral at the top. Built between 1435 and 1495, it has a rose window among the largest of its kind. Below the town, centuries-old olive groves run down towards the sea. For a wedding, Ostuni’s strength is that town and countryside work together. The comune has made more than a dozen masserie, relais and hotels around it into separate civil registry offices, so the civil ceremony itself can take place at the venue, among the olive trees, rather than at the town hall. The town then gives you the portraits: white walls at the end of the day, the cathedral square, the lanes. ## Wedding photographers in Ostuni They shoot everywhere in Puglia — in Ostuni too. Their whole weddings are on their pages. https://lensandvows.com/photographers?region=puglia https://lensandvows.com/photographers?region=puglia&sort=rating (highest rated first, by verified reviews) ## Where couples marry in Ostuni - **Masserie on the comune’s list:** Fortified farmhouses, relais and hotels that the comune has registered for civil weddings; in October 2025 it added two more. The registrar comes to the venue, so check that yours is on the list before you sign. - **The town hall and its cloister:** The town hall is Palazzo San Francesco, a former Franciscan convent on Piazza della Libertà. Civil weddings are held at the registry office, in the Salone dei Sindaci and in the arcaded cloister next door. - **The cathedral:** At the top of the old town. In 2021 its priest told reporters he had 80 weddings booked that year, with couples from France, England, the United States, Australia and Poland. - **The archaeological park of Santa Maria d’Agnano:** The comune also celebrates civil weddings at the archaeological park of Santa Maria d’Agnano: an outdoor alternative to the town hall. ## Where to take your portraits - **The lanes of the old town:** Narrow lanes between whitewashed walls throw soft, bounced light into every corner, even when the sun is high. - **Piazza della Libertà:** The main square, with the town hall and the column of Sant’Oronzo — 20 metres of baroque from 1771, with the saint’s statue on top: a few steps from a town hall ceremony. - **In front of the cathedral:** At the top of the old town, below the great rose window — in the evening, when the whitewash warms. - **Among the olive trees:** The old trees around the masserie at golden hour: portraits with no travelling at all after a ceremony at the venue. - **The town from the plain:** From the countryside below, the whole white town on its hill. Ask your photographer for the spot that suits your hour. ## When to marry in Ostuni For the weather we use Brindisi’s official station, on the coast (Aeronautica Militare, 1971–2000): average highs of 22.2 °C in May, 26.3 °C in June, 29.0 °C in August and 26.0 °C in September, with rain on 2 or 3 days a month from June to August, 5 in September and 7 in October. Late August belongs to the patron saint: the feast of Sant’Oronzo ran from 25 to 27 August in 2025, and on the 26th horsemen in red and gold uniforms ride through the centre. Puglia, month by month: - **Best:** May, June, September - **Good with planning:** April, July, August, October ## Good to know before the day - **Airports and trains:** Brindisi’s airport is the nearer one, under 50 km away; Bari’s is about 100 km up the coast. Ostuni’s station, on the Adriatic line between Bari and Lecce, is about 2 km from the centre. - **Between town and masseria:** If the ceremony is in town and dinner in the country, the transfer is part of the timeline: book a shuttle, agree the timing with your photographer and keep a car for the end of the night. - **Interpreter and documents:** Ostuni’s own page says the registrar appoints an interpreter if you don’t understand Italian — ask who finds and pays for them. Each of you brings a nulla osta and you sign a declaration at the comune before the day; our guide to getting married in Italy has the rest. - **The coast and the dunes park:** Ostuni’s coast lies within the Parco delle Dune Costiere, with nature reserves and areas closed to cars and boats. For beach portraits, ask where you may go. - **Drones:** Italian law bans unauthorised flights over parks and reserves, and EU rules forbid flying over gatherings of people. Ask your masseria and your photographer before planning aerial shots over the olive groves. - [How to marry legally in Italy](https://lensandvows.com/journal/getting-married-in-italy) ## Questions about marrying in Ostuni ### Can we have a legal civil wedding at a masseria near Ostuni? Yes, if it is one of the places the comune has registered as a separate civil registry office: more than a dozen masserie, relais and hotels, two of them added in October 2025. Ask the venue, then book the date with the comune as well. ### Where else can we marry in Ostuni? At the town hall, Palazzo San Francesco on Piazza della Libertà — in the registry office, the Salone dei Sindaci or the cloister — or at the archaeological park of Santa Maria d’Agnano. For a church wedding, the cathedral at the top of the old town. ### Can we marry in Ostuni Cathedral as a foreign couple? Couples from abroad do: in 2021 its priest spoke of 80 weddings booked, with couples from France, England, the United States, Australia and Poland. Ask the parish early, and start the Church’s papers in your home parish. ### When is Ostuni busiest? On summer evenings, and above all at the feast of Sant’Oronzo in late August (25 to 27 August in 2025), with the ride of the horsemen on the 26th. Avoid those days if you want quiet lanes for your portraits. ### Which airport is closest to Ostuni? Brindisi, under 50 km away; the other choice is Bari, about 100 km. From either, arrange transfers for your guests: the masserie are out in the country. ## Other places in Puglia - [Puglia](https://lensandvows.com/italy/puglia): The whole region: when to marry, the kinds of places, the light, getting there. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/italy/puglia.md) ## Read before you plan - [Portugal, Italy, Spain, Greece or France? Choosing the country for a destination wedding](https://lensandvows.com/journal/portugal-vs-italy-spain-greece-france-destination-wedding): The legal route for couples who don’t live there, season and crowds, price levels, light, flights, venues and permits for photographs — five countries compared with official figures, as of October 2026. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/portugal-vs-italy-spain-greece-france-destination-wedding.md) - [A wedding-day timeline built around the light](https://lensandvows.com/journal/wedding-day-timeline): Sunset decides more of your photos than you might think. Approximate sunset times by month, where golden hour fits, and two example timelines — one for June, one for October. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/wedding-day-timeline.md) - [How to choose a wedding photographer: the steps, and the questions to ask](https://lensandvows.com/journal/how-to-choose-a-wedding-photographer): The decision in order — whole weddings, style, availability, the package, the contract and deposit, cancellation, delivery and a conversation — then a checklist of questions, with why each one matters. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/how-to-choose-a-wedding-photographer.md) - [How deposits and payment protection work on Lens & Vows](https://lensandvows.com/journal/deposits-and-payment-protection): A 30% deposit holds your date; the balance goes straight to the photographer, or through us with payment protection. Every step, what each choice costs, and what happens if plans change. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/deposits-and-payment-protection.md) - [Wedding venues in Italy: villas, castles and masserie in Tuscany, Lake Como, the Amalfi Coast and Puglia](https://lensandvows.com/journal/wedding-venues-italy): Twenty-seven places that host weddings today — Medici villas and Chianti castles, lakeside villas and gardens, cliff-top hotels above the sea, fortified farmhouses among the olives — with where they are, what they look like, rough capacity from their own sites, whether a legal civil ceremony can happen there, and what each means for your photos. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/wedding-venues-italy.md) - [Where to elope in Italy: 15 places, from Dolomite lakes to a Greek theatre in Sicily](https://lensandvows.com/journal/where-to-elope-in-italy): Fifteen named spots in the Dolomites, on Lake Como and the Amalfi Coast, in Tuscany, Venice, Rome, Sicily and Puglia — what each looks like, how you reach it in 2026, when it is quiet, and the fees, permits and drone rules that apply before you say your vows there. (Markdown: https://lensandvows.com/journal/where-to-elope-in-italy.md)