La Motticella, or Motta della Regina, is an ancient settlement that appears on maps dating back to before 1000 A.D.. It is located in the countryside of Lucera, a pre-Roman city in northern Puglia allied with Rome against the Samnites, the seat of the court of Frederick II and the capital of Capitanata until 1806.

In the Middle Ages it was a rest stop along the road between Lucera, in the hinterland, and Lesina, a Venetian outpost on the Adriatic; later it became a fiefdom of the Caropresa, Zunica and Serra di Cassano families.

The whitewashed ‘masseria’, a fortified farmhouse typical of this region, was built, along with a church, dormitories for farm labourers, stables, storage pits for wheat and a primary school, which closed in the 1960s. In the early 1900s the company was acquired by Paolo Petrilli, the grandfather of the present-day owner, using the dowry of his wife, Teresa, and merged with the neighbouring family farm.

Paolo Petrilli appreciated the importance of sustainable farming and believed it was essential to use the land in a different way for the sake of future generations. He decided to convert to organic farming methods that didn’t pollute the soil or air, and that rejected the use of pesticides and weedkillers. This was the start of the Paolo Petrilli farm company.

La Motticella, or Motta della Regina, is an ancient settlement that appears on maps dating back to before 1000 A.D.. It is located in the countryside of Lucera, a pre-Roman city in northern Puglia allied with Rome against the Samnites, the seat of the court of Frederick II and the capital of Capitanata until 1806.

In the Middle Ages it was a rest stop along the road between Lucera, in the hinterland, and Lesina, a Venetian outpost on the Adriatic; later it became a fiefdom of the Caropresa, Zunica and Serra di Cassano families.

The whitewashed ‘masseria’, a fortified farmhouse typical of this region, was built, along with a church, dormitories for farm labourers, stables, storage pits for wheat and a primary school, which closed in the 1960s. In the early 1900s the company was acquired by Paolo Petrilli, the grandfather of the present-day owner, using the dowry of his wife, Teresa, and merged with the neighbouring family farm.

Paolo Petrilli appreciated the importance of sustainable farming and believed it was essential to use the land in a different way for the sake of future generations. He decided to convert to organic farming methods that didn’t pollute the soil or air, and that rejected the use of pesticides and weedkillers. This was the start of the Paolo Petrilli farm company.