Tucked away between acres of olive, fruit and nut trees, vineyards, you will find the little abode that Giulia Stasi calls home. But At the Aia is more than just a home, it’s a place where connections are made, where experiences are created, and wellness is a way of life. I slowed down over a glass of Negroamaro with Giulia and learned how this native New Yorker turned this agriturismo into her livelihood.

Always a fun-loving, adventurous person, you could find her jumping off the cliffs in Southern Puglia’s cragged coastline, living in Maui and finishing up college in Rome. Giulia’s background is nothing short of whimsical. She is the daughter of an Italian-American epidemiologist who met her handsome late Pugliese father, as fate would have it, in New York’s little Italy in Cafe Roma. Michele  was the son of revolutionaries that gave up their house to Jews who were escaping persecution during the Second World War. This house in Santa Catarina, which boasts a Star of David above the entrance is where Giulia spent all but two of 38 summers with her Grandma Fausta. 

Going back to her Puglian roots

Backtrack to 2009 and Giulia was studying to be an acupuncturist between New York and a semester in San Diego. After becoming an acupuncturist, Giulia’s intuition kept calling her back to her Puglian roots. Her initial idea was to start up a juice bar in Lecce. But, as fate would have it, she went to Salento one summer back in 2015 only to discover that her friend was selling her farmhouse in the country just outside the Salentine city of Nardò. She decided to pick up everything and send her life in a container across the Atlantic to the Ionian Sea, where she would then call home with her daughter, Francesca, who was two at the time. This move was nothing short of courageous, but Giulia would humbly tell you it was something she just knew she had to do and she was just “fortunate.” But, I’ll tell you something, luck is not enough; Giulia’s entrepreneurial spirit and work ethic are what have helped create this thriving business.

Agriturismo meets farm-to-table

Five olive oil harvests later, she now divides time between Lecce where six-year-old Francesca goes to school and her agriturismo. Two years ago she hired Ram, a soft-spoken, cheerful Indian man, who she calls her right-hand man. Together they make jams from her own fruit trees and cook up a typical Puglian brunch that satisfies the taste buds and embodies the farm-to-table philosophy that is behind the Aia’s success. She has combined her Eastern training in acupuncture with wellness, massage therapy and yoga retreats.

Innovative yoga and wellness retreats in Puglia

Giulia and the Aia’s yoga teacher, Kamal, together offer yoga and wellness retreats in Puglia, combined with exceptional local Puglian experiences, which can range from wine tasting to cooking classes and city tours, with Giulia as your friendly guide. You can even get massages and acupuncture during the wellness retreats or have a relaxing day lying by the pool. And the stunning coastline is just a few miles’ drive away.

At the Aia is more than just a place for a yoga retreat, it’s a place where people come together over good food, a healthy lifestyle and a spectacular setting, combined with incomparable Southern Italian hospitality.

By Travel Writer Jessica Freedman