Women's Retreat Venue in Italy: An Exclusive-Use Masseria in Salento

Women's retreats, whether women's circles, journeys through the cycle and the seasons of life, sisterhood retreats or weekends of practice and sharing, have one need that comes before the programme, before the food, before everything: a protected space. Those who facilitate this work know it better than anyone: the quality of the container decides the depth of the work. Not a hotel with other guests in the corridors, not a farm stay with a hall shared with restaurant customers: a place where the group can be completely at home, from the first circle to the last breakfast.

A space that is yours alone, literally

At Masseria Montanari the retreat runs on an exclusive-use basis: when you book, the whole property belongs to your group. No strangers in the spaces, no imposed timetables, no outside gaze. In concrete terms, this changes the things that matter: you can sing at full voice, dance barefoot in the garden, spend a whole afternoon in silence, cry and laugh in the same circle, with no explanations owed to anyone, because there is no one else.

The spaces, designed for circle work

• The vaulted hall in Lecce stone: 55 m², up to 35 people seated, around twenty mats with comfortable room to spare. The stone vaults have a beautiful natural acoustic for singing, mantra and sound work; in summer the hall stays cool, in winter it is climate-controlled, so the circle can be held all year round.
• The garden and the countryside: the lawn for dawn practices, the shade of the trees for sharing circles, the olive groves and little white lanes for silent walks. The sunset, in these parts, does half the work of closing the day.
• 6 independent apartments, up to 16 sleeping places: participants sleep on site, in real bedrooms with their own bathrooms, a detail that weighs more than the programme in retreat reviews.
• The kitchen at your disposal: for groups that treat food as part of the journey, and in many women's retreats the shared kitchen is itself a practice. On request, we can organise the meals ourselves with local produce, including vegetarian and vegan.

For organisers: how we work with facilitators

Our craft is the place, yours is the journey. The formula is the same as for our retreats: exclusive rental of the spaces, with or without additional services (meals, transfers, an evening of pizzica if the group wants to meet the local tradition). A few things that, in our experience, help organisers:

• Site visits welcome: if you want to see the masseria before proposing it to your group, come, in person or on a video call.
• A quote for your format: a weekend (2 nights), a longer format (4-5 nights), or the mid-week option that costs less and finds the countryside at its quietest.
• Materials: mats on request; for particular needs (a ceremonial fire in the garden, special setups), let's talk beforehand: almost everything is possible, and what is not, we tell you straight away.

Where we are (and why the place matters)

We are in Carpignano Salentino, in the heart of the Grecìa Salentina: the countryside of the most authentic Salento, a land of ancient rites, of tarantism and pizzica, the story of the female body dancing to free itself, one that many facilitators choose to weave into their own work. Otranto and the sea are 20 minutes away (the dawn swim is a classic of retreats here), Lecce 25, Brindisi airport one hour: convenient for participants arriving from all over Italy.

You can feel when a place is right

If you are looking for the venue for your next circle or women's retreat, write to us: tell us the period, the number of participants and what kind of journey you have in mind. We will reply within a few hours with availability and a clear quote, and if you would like to come and feel the place before deciding, you are very welcome. It is the best way to choose: these spaces either speak to you, or they do not.