The Poggio delle Antiche Ville is the Toponym that the "Le Antiche Ville" Onlus Association has created since its establishment (September 1997) for the territorial area composed of the two rural districts called "Brenca" and "San Materno", located in much of the territory of Mola di Bari, but also for portions of the district "Pozzovivo" and for contiguous minor areas falling within the territories of Rutigliano and Noicattaro.
About thirty of these villas have been transmitted intact to date and constitute a heritage of exceptional architectural and cultural value on which it is possible to develop a targeted policy of protection, enhancement and development, for the benefit of urban centers.
Add to this the fact that the area is rich in botanical and vegetational endemisms, of fauna species that are now considered rare and also landscapes of rare beauty and amenity.
The Municipality of Mola di Bari has assigned to the Ecomuseum an office in an old rural school at care and expense of the Association, which annually promotes since 1998 dozens of public initiatives mostly framed in the review of events and useful services entitled "Baricentro in collina", an original format being the only cultural review in the hilly area of Mola di Bari.
The success of the ecomuseum experience developed in the "Poggio delle Antiche Ville" lies precisely in the peculiarity that it has been promoted and supported, from the very beginning, by the "Le Antiche Ville" non-profit association, strong of a hundred associated families, direct expression of the territory in its multiple characterizations and also out of any temptation of godparent politicians of any tendency.
For these reasons and because of the many years of experience accumulated since 1997 up to now, our association has always set itself as a reference point for the actions being carried out by public institutions in terms of cultural-environmental networking and for the use of resources provided by european, national and regional programs.