Salento, a beautiful land to discover
Salento is that strip of land that forms the heel of the boot (lo Stivale = Italy). It is located between two wonderful seas: the Ionian (west) and the Adriatic (East). There are more than 250 Km of coast which is at times low and sandy and at times high and indented.
Salento has always been a crossing point between different cultures and religions, a crossroads of exchanges.
On the whole territory we can still see signs of ancient civilization that have left a series of evidences, Underground oil presses, Farms, Castles, Coastal Towers and Pajare (dry rural buildings ) are only some of the traces of this beautiful land and they tell their own story giving the tourist a series of unique and unrepeatable feelings.
There can be no doubt that the wealth of this piece of earth doesn't lie only in the architectural and rural works scattered on the whole territory but also in its tourist inspiration that attracts every year thousand and thousand of visitors that are enchanted by its beauty. All this thanks to a coast that stretches along the Ionic and Adriatic side showing typical characteristics sometimes rough and imposing of the rocky coast and sometimes with endless expanses of thin and golden sand.
The territory
Gallipoli - Gallipoli or “Kalč Polis”(in greek “beautiful town”)rises out from the sea, entirely surrounded by towers, and is connected to the newly built center by the bridge on the ancient isthmus. Rich in traditions and also influenced by eastern customs, the ancient town is full of labyrinthic narrow streets, snow-white small houses, dug out into the typical Mediterranean courtyards, ancient 17th and 18th century palaces, churches; more there are the castle and a beautiful cathedral. It’s already known the attraction which Gallipoli has with it’s sea, for Italian and foreigners tourists, with its colours, turquoise-green emerald, with its tropical beaches with the innumerable typologies and colour tones, along the marvelous northern and southern seaside, with its bright sky. The Mediterranean Woods, with all their tonalities of the green olive trees and the naturalistic environment all, still virgin in many zones, with the mild climate also in the winter months. Gallipoli conquers in a simple way, with the authenticity, spontaneity and hospitality of its people, with its traditions in every season of the year, with the historical and cultural wealth of its ancient center.
Otranto - Otranto is a beautiful fortified city with bright colored houses. This is a busy port town rich in history and culture. Otranto is famous for its 800 Martyrs who refused to renounce their religion during a Turkish invasion. Their skeletons are still preserved in the Cathedral.
The Cathedral's floor is characterized by a large mosaic which portrays the tree of life, the creation of Adam and Eve and the construction of the mosaic itself in the 12th century.
An important historic and artistic centre, Otranto lies on one of Italy's most beautiful coastlines, the sea that laps against its shores is limpid and intense in colour. Otranto presents itself to the visitor in the guise of a medieval city, still attached to the periods that preceded its destruction. Rich in remains, which testify to its intensely glorious and at times dramatic past; the splendid Cathedral overlooks the town, along with Saint Peter's Basilica, Martyr's Hill, the Castle, the Towers, the Bastions, the Aragonese walls and the fortified farmhouses, a must for all visitors to Salento. The coast-road is one of the most poetic tourist itineraries in the province. With its breathtaking sea views Otranto is a paradise for all nature lovers.
Grecěa salentina - Grecěa Salentina (Salentinian Greece) is a Griko-speaking area in the peninsula of Salento in southern Italy, near the town of Lecce. It consists of the nine small towns of Calimera, Martano, Castrignano dei Greci, Corigliano d'Otranto, Melpignano, Soleto, Sternatia, Zollino and Martignano.
The salentina's Greece is an island remained intact in the centuries from when the first Greeks arrived in Salento; it guards its identity preciously. According to the legend the first Greeks arrived in the Salento after the fall of the mythical Ilio, with the cretese king Idomeneo, spouse of the beautiful Euippa, daughter of Malennio (for the patriotic legend, first king of the Salento,).
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