Garden, citrus grove and noble quiet
The villa stands on the outskirts of Sannicola, a few kilometres from Gallipoli, in the elegant inland landscape of Salento. A large park, a citrus grove and the old pergola accompany guests through a setting of shade, fragrance and memory.
A walk beneath the colonnade leading to the breakfast gazebo restores the atmosphere of a country residence designed for unhurried time. In summer, the pool completes the experience with privacy and calm away from crowded beaches.
Gallipoli, lamp oil and the Mediterranean horizon
Until 1908 Sannicola was part of Gallipoli and shared much of its economic destiny. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries Gallipoli became one of the great Mediterranean centres of lamp oil trading, in contact with London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin and Amsterdam.
It was common for large landowners and merchants to spend the harvest months in rural villas known as 'casini', comfortable country residences immersed in the landscape. Contrada Li Cuti, where Tenuta Stevens stands, was one of the liveliest areas of the Gallipoli countryside.
A poetic voice between Gallipoli and Naples
Sofia Stevens was born in Gallipoli in 1845, daughter of vice consul Henry Stevens and noblewoman Carolina Auverny. Educated, cosmopolitan and refined, she studied languages and poetry, travelled through Europe and kept the memory of Li Cuti alive in her writing.
Her life story leaves the estate with a discreet but essential presence: the legacy of a sensitive gaze still perceptible today in the poetry and atmosphere of the place.
The trade that lit Europe
For centuries Gallipoli was among Europe’s leading oil markets. Salento lamp oil, produced in underground mills and valued for its purity and yield, illuminated the great cities of Europe until the end of the nineteenth century.
That economic civilisation still survives in architecture, agricultural landscape, international relations and material memory. Tenuta Stevens belongs to this historical scenario of seasonal country residences and harvest lands.
Between sea, services and authentic Salento
Tenuta Stevens lies in a peaceful area on the edge of Sannicola, about 12 km from Gallipoli and close to beaches, shops, restaurants, pharmacies and daily services. It is an ideal base for balancing the coast with quiet returns to the countryside.
Staying here means experiencing Salento in two complementary ways: the luminous coast and the intimate inland world of masserie, gardens, villages and family memories.