Borgo Egnazia: Christmas Markets

In Puglia there are many Christmas markets and villages that enliven the Salento festivities. It is a series of events, installations and shows that offer an opportunity for fun for adults and children.

Some of them, in my opinion, stand out for their tradition and participation so much so that they are among the most beautiful in the region.

Christmas markets in Borgo Egnazia

Christmas is approaching and with it brings with it the magical and warm atmosphere that characterizes it and which also envelops Borgo Egnazia, in Savelletri di Fasano, one of the most beautiful places in Puglia, a triumph of beauty, history and gastronomy, ready for you to experience a Christmas fairy tale.

The structure is entirely built in tuff, the local stone and cut by hand by the expert hands of the master tufa workers and finally thanks to the architect and set designer Pino Brescia who was inspired by the architecture of the Apulian farms and rural villages, by nature and simplicity, we have managed to achieve élite tourism.

Borgo Egnazia: the structure

The imposing structure is the undisputed queen of Apulian hospitality, which blends tradition and innovation, contemporaneity and authenticity, simplicity and majesty.

The rooms are divided into three categories: The Court, the Borgo, the Villas. We also find two private beaches, within which there is the Water Sport center and La Fonte ideal with three large outdoor swimming pools, a heated indoor swimming pool, three tennis courts and an 18-hole course overlooking the sea, located on the border between the ancient archaeological city of Egnathia and the small port of Savelletri. The route winds between the rocky profiles of the Adriatic Sea, in the expanse of Mediterranean vegetation and fields cultivated with vegetables and centuries-old olive trees.

Finally, the elegant spa which accompanies visitors on a sensorial journey between emotions and sport with daily relaxation in the open air to rediscover instinct and naturalness. In short, a perfect mix that manages to combine the most genuine local traditions with top-level services.

The spectacular location, capable of providing intense emotions, is the ideal destination for those who want to spend the holidays diving into the flavors and ancient traditions of Puglia.

A unique place that still takes on the values of the past and are in perfect harmony with the territory and a breathtaking landscape.

The Christmas Markets in Borgo Egnazia: the event

Borgo Egnazia will host the “Christmas Markets”, an event that will transport you to a celebration of colours, flavors and joy and which will be open to everyone and not just guests staying in the structure.

Here visitors will be able to experience the thrill of walking through the suggestive alleys, shopping among the stalls and then entering some of the “little houses” transformed for the occasion into small shops in which to discover Apulian craftsmanship: embroidery and lace, ceramics , or taste typical flavors such as breasts, roasted chestnuts, pancakes, biscuits and sweets among the scent of mulled wine, cotton candy, other products from our local talents and some of the best Apulian wines.

The lights, bonfires and music will animate the large square, the heart of Borgo Egnazia, which will be the setting for this wonderful painting.

And for a full immersion in the typically Apulian festive atmosphere, even some pampering at the Vair Spa, an excellent compromise, a holiday proposal in fact, which combines the uniqueness of the area and those of the structure itself.

And to end on a high note, at the La Frasca restaurant, the authentic Apulian trattoria in Borgo Egnazia, with the pleasure of a traditional dinner, it is a unique opportunity to rediscover the deep peasant roots of Apulian cuisine.

There are more than a hundred castles and palaces still in excellent condition scattered throughout Salento and some of these are true artistic heritages of enormous historical value. Scattered across the provinces of Lecce, Taranto and Brindisi, these castles are evidence of past colonizations and the fortification necessary for the defense of the most noble families.

We therefore list the 5 most beautiful castles to visit during your trip to Salento!

Gallipoli Castle

Dominating the profile of the old city of Gallipoli is the Angevin Aragonese Castle, the imposing manor that stands in the eastern area of the island which houses the ancient village, near the bridge that links the old part of the city to the new one.

Built in the 13th century at the behest of Carlo I d’Angiò, it underwent radical changes over time, until the 16th century, when a fifth tower was also added, which served to defend against sea attacks and protect access to the city. It is a fortified construction with characteristics of high military engineering that can be visited today. Most likely the Angevins and the Aragonese made substantial changes to the castle of Roman origin: the quadrangular plan of the structure, equipped with three towers and a polygonal tower, was almost completely isolated by moats on all sides. Furthermore, in 1522, the Rivellino was built, i.e. a fifth circular tower, lower and wider than the others, in an advanced position with respect to the city walls. A sort of vanguard in the defensive system.

Today, the entire Castle has been redeveloped and thanks to a new project, areas have been created for the creation of exhibitions, cultural events and small theatrical shows.

Carlo V Castle in Lecce

The Carlo V Castle of Lecce is the leading star of the cultural circuit of Salento, revamped in every aspect and function and transformed into an evocative setting for cultural events of various types, from artistic exhibitions to food and wine events, as a center for the dissemination of traditions and local riches.

It was Carlo V of Habsburg who wanted its construction which is now located in the city center near Piazza Sant’Oronzo. It is a very large building with a quadrangular shape which has four bastions at the four corners. You enter from the Royal Door which gives access to the internal courtyard of the Castle. In the past the building had a military function, it even had a moat along its entire perimeter (today the moat no longer exists) and even today you can see the positions where the artillery pieces were located. Then, from 1870 to 1979 it became a barracks until the Military Administration handed it over to the Municipality of Lecce.

Today it is a visitable space where art exhibitions, conferences and cultural initiatives are held. Symbol of local artistic craftsmanship, papier-mâché is the protagonist of the museum set up in the Carlo V Castle. Walking through the regal rooms, you can admire a collection of around 80 works created by the major local papier-mâché makers from the 18th century to the present day. Videos, images and reconstructions of real “shops” make the visit even more fascinating.

Copertino Castle

Among the many castles that make a fine display in Salento, that of Copertino deserves a special mention, located in Piazza Castello, a fortified complex built in the 1530s and completed in 1540 by the Apulian architect Evangelista Menga by will of the Marquis Alfonso Granaries Castriota. The latter was a general of Carlo V and feudal lord of the large county established in 1266 by Carlo I d’Angiò.

Copertino castle, with a quadrilateral plan, contains previous buildings within it, including the Angevin tower, dating back to the first structure. The manor, home to numerous noble families, is a very important example of military architecture. It is surrounded by a large moat carved into the rock and four bastions at the corners.

Entering through the Renaissance style door you enter the internal courtyard, from which it is possible to admire various buildings dating back to different eras. On the right there is a portal with a tympanum that leads to the chapel dedicated to San Marco. The small church, with a rectangular plan and barrel vaults, houses the tombs of the marquises, created by the master L. A. Russo and the frescoes created by the local painter Gianserio Strafella.

The upper floor is accessed via an open staircase that leads to the rooms of the old palace, dating back to 1400 and 1500. Here, in the approximately twenty rooms that make up the floor, the barons lived. Halfway up the stairs you can see the remains of the 15th century frescoes from the old Maddalena chapel.

The Angevin Castle is the main protagonist for events, gastronomy, artistic and cultural events with national and international artists.

Castle de’ Monti of Corigliano d’Otranto

Walking through the many streets of Salento, you cannot fail to visit the Castle of Corigliano d’Otranto, which represents the most complete model of the transition of military architecture from square to round towers: in fact it has a quadrangular layout with four corner towers, surrounded by a deep ditch.

Each tower presents the heraldic coat of arms of the de’ Monti accompanied by allegorical depictions of the four cardinal virtues and by bas-reliefs of as many Saints under whose protection each tower is placed. Looking at the main facade, the tower on the left is dedicated to San Michele Arcangelo whose effigy is flanked by the allegory of the fortress; the tower on the right is dedicated to Sant’Antonio Abate who is accompanied by the allegory of temperance. The other towers are dedicated to San Giorgio and San Giovanni Battista, whose bas-reliefs are associated with allegorical representations of prudence and justice respectively.

Having lost its original defensive function, in the mid-seventeenth century the castle was adapted, according to the fashion of the time, to the aesthetic and representative needs of the feudal lord’s family, creating a baroque façade superimposed on the pre-existing one.

Today it is possible to visit the Castle for free or for a fee with a guide, but events are often organized by the Korianì social cooperative, such as stargazing from the Castle terraces.

Acaya Castle (LE)

A few kilometers from the Salento Adriatic coast, not far from Lecce, there is the village of Acaya, formerly called Segine. It is one of the castles built according to the most representative military techniques of Salento.

Today the fortified village of Acaya Castle is a point of reference for numerous cultural events. Very evocative is the historical procession and palio of the families, a Renaissance festival with nobles, ladies, knights, magistrates, falconers, musicians and commoners, a historical re-enactment that attracts numerous visitors.

The castle entirely built in Lecce stone, together with the fortified village, is linked to the figure of Gian Giacomo d’Acaya, military architect of Carlo V, who made numerous changes in the mid-sixteenth century, so much so that the city changed its name in his honour, from Segine in Acaya.

The castle was once entirely surrounded by a moat. It has two circular towers in Lecce stone and a spearhead bastion to the south-east. The fortress is accessed from the north through an entrance hall that led to the stables, beneath which there was once an underground oil mill. During the works, a late Byzantine fresco was also found, depicting religious motifs, perhaps pertaining to a monastic complex that housed religious communities of the Greek rite. The elegant and residential part was located on the upper floors and consisted of six rooms. In the square room of the bastion there is a painting representing the coat of arms of the Spanish kings.

The church was rebuilt by Gian Giacomo on an already existing medieval one, built by Pietro dell’Acaya in 1420. Of this church, only the bell tower and the sacristy remain as evidence.

To conclude, if you want to take a tour of the Castles in Salento, you can’t miss the ones mentioned above.

Very often olive tree branches, vine shoots and prickly pear stems hide old scars: abandoned ruins that demonstrate, to us who approach respectfully, the pride of being part of the red and warm land of Salento. The farmhouses (called “masserie“) are the undisputed object of our memory, the testimony of what we are, the pretext to remain linked to our roots in Salento.

History and function of Salento farmhouses

The masseria, from the Latin massa, or “set of estates”, is a rural building settlement typical of the 16th – 17th century, which for a long time represented the most widespread type of company (agricultural-pastoral in nature) in Puglia, becoming full expression of local peasant culture.

Beyond the agricultural aspect, the masserizio phenomenon is linked, without a shadow of a doubt, to a defensive function: after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, in 1453, the Salento peninsula became a frequent destination for looting and pirate incursions. During the 16th century, to overcome such attacks, Charles V of Habsburg decided to strengthen the Adriatic and Ionian coast by implementing a defense plan which led to the construction of towers and walls around the farms which for this reason were defined as “fortified“.

The “fortified farm” is a structure built in the countryside and isolated from urban centers, with the intention of protecting the safety of its inhabitants, and therefore always protected by a massive fence, the ideal place in which to defend oneself from pirates, by the Saracens and brigands who raged in Southern Italy. This phenomenon is visible throughout the Adriatic coast of Salento, from Brindisi to Otranto and also on the Ionian side, from Capo di Leuca.

It can therefore be stated with certainty that the birth of these rural complexes is linked to the socio-economic context of Southern Italy.

Architecture of the Salento farms

The farms were built taking into account a certain aesthetic and architectural taste, thanks to the skill of craftsmen and bricklayers who worked stone, carparo or tuff. At the same time, these are settlements built with a view to functionality, to make life in the fields less difficult and therefore to lighten the settlers’ fatigue, offer practical solutions and guarantee maximum usability of the environments, in a perfect balance between man and nature, between the artefact and the territory.

The typical layout of the farm in some cases included a construction of the type closed towards the outside and with the openings all facing inside the courtyard or large courtyard. Various rooms were distributed around the courtyard: the farmer’s house, the stables and pens for the animals, the structures intended for the conservation and processing of the products of the land and livestock or stables for the horses or mules as well as the rooms for chickens, rabbits and various farmed birds. Other rooms were used for storing work tools and as a shelter for the owner’s carriages. Furthermore, there were also wells called “pile“, that is, stone containers that contained water for laundry, drinking troughs and granaries for preserves.

The same perimeter walls, without openings, acted as protection against intruders and malicious people, also allowing a possible defense against attacks by bandits.
Generally a part of the building for residential purposes had one or more upper floors in which the “master” and his family lived. The lower floors were used for housing by the farmers and as warehouses for supplies. In most cases a chapel or church was built which was used for various religious functions.

Different types of farm

There are several farm buildings in Salento:

• at court, the farm is built within walls that enclose it, defending it from external threats.
• with a trullo roof: houses and haystacks have a trullo roof and are of different sizes. Some examples are Masseria Ortolini and Masseria Ferrari (residents in Martina Franca).
• with pignon roof: the roof of the house is a pignon, steep roof and the buildings intended for the tasks have a trullo roof.
• linear construction: farms that are characterized by being a single building, with the houses joined to the other buildings.
• a casino: construction that developed in the 19th century and which marks the clearest distinction between the owner’s house and the company (e.g. Luco, Mita).

The Farmer

In these rural sediments they were initially inhabited by farmers, the so-called “massari” (responsible for the agricultural land), who dedicated their lives to the cultivation of products necessary for their sustenance, that is, cultivation of wheat, cereals, olives, in addition to livestock breeding and milk and cheese production.

The farm was not owned by the settler who lived there and cultivated the surrounding lands, but by the landowner who allowed the farmer to stay there with his family, enjoying part of the harvest.

From past to present: the farmhouses in Salento today

From the mid-17th century, some improvements in the agricultural sector allowed the rural environment to be further enhanced, leading to the birth of the farmhouse-villa in Salento.

The farms are therefore enriched with rich portals, balconies and viewpoints, gardens and stucco decorations and frescoed ornaments which transform these rural and spartan structures into small jewels of fine architecture, holiday resorts.

Today they appear on state roads or in the countryside, with grandeur and dignity. Some have been restored and sometimes used for tourism, hosting farmhouses, B&Bs or charming resorts, but also private villas equipped with all comforts. Once productive environments, the oil mills, the mangers, the millstones are restored to allow the most attentive tourists to rediscover the culture and rural tradition.

Rusticity thus becomes an added value of tourism. Others, completely abandoned, experience a difficult and, perhaps, risky solitude, but not without charm, like that of Monteruga. An immense farmhouse in the countryside of San Pancrazio, Salice and Veglie, once the center of intense agricultural activity, and now abandoned.

The Salento peninsula has been the “gateway to Italy” for centuries, a border territory, where historical events have influenced the fabric of the settlement fabric and have determined architecture that still stands out today for its monumentality. The ancient coastal towers in Salento are some of the most important historical testimonies of the period in which the region represented the frontier of Europe, the bridge from the Western world to the East.

It may be the intersection between sky and sea, it may be that they tell a distant story, it may be that hint of wildness that they still retain, but the almost one hundred coastal towers of Salento really deserve to be seen.

Like silent guardians in stone, imposing, overlooking the sea, some ruins that seem to emerge from the rocks, others solitary like nobles in exile, chase each other endlessly, defining the first defensive line of the South against the raids of pirates, Saracens and Turks.

Historical aspect of the coastal towers in Salento

• The first towers in Salento were built during the Roman Empire: others followed, built in the Middle Ages, under Swabian domination and then under Angevin domination. The construction of the towers followed very specific criteria, as they had to be able to communicate with the nearest ones, through precise light signals put in place by sentries located at the top, in order to signal possible dangers coming from the sea. Furthermore, their location was chosen in order to have the best possible view also towards the hinterland, so that any alarm signals could be launched promptly from the fortification.

• However, the phenomenon took on considerable importance between 1558 and 1567, to deal with the continuous raids. 339 towers were built throughout the South and 96 in Puglia alone: 16 in the Bari area, 80 in the Otranto area, a much larger area, as we know, than the current Province of Lecce.

• Unfortunately, most of them show all the signs of aging, but others have been the subject of recovery and restoration and all their peculiarities have been brought to light.

Structure of the coastal towers in Salento

• The towers of the medieval era were built mainly with a square plan, with a scarp base and a top terrace demarcated by battlements with slits on the walls.
• During the Renaissance era the towers generally took on a circular shape, with the entrance often placed on the upper floor.
• At the end of the 15th century, the Kingdom of Naples, faced with the intensification of attacks, decided to restore and complete the system of coastal towers. Tall, majestic in the severe simplicity of the architectural lines, they are cylindrical and quadrangular with a truncated pyramidal base.
• Missing, at least in the Lecce area, are those in the shape of a star or a “priest’s hat” as in the case of those of Torre Santa Sabina and San Pietro in Bevagna. The former, which are the oldest, were mainly for sighting purposes, the latter also had defensive purposes and were equipped with catapults, thrusters, culverins and firearms: some recovered and are in an excellent state of preservation, others, unfortunately, in state of total abandonment. Sometimes they are real fortresses such as the so-called tower of the Four Columns of Santa Maria al Bagno of which only the four corner columns remain standing today.

Journey to discover the coastal towers in Puglia

There are no real itineraries to choose from to discover the coastal towers in Salento. Many of the towers are located close to some of the most famous holiday resorts, others immersed in suggestive oases, sandwiched between wild nature and the typical crystalline sea that bathes the coastal areas.

This unusual tour of the ancient coastal towers in Salento is a nice and different way to experience the area, to get to know the unique places and landscapes of a timeless, beautiful and fascinating Puglia!

I will list just some of the most important towers that populate the coasts of Salento starting from the Gargano to the tip of Capo di Leuca and then going up to Taranto.

The Towers in the province of Foggia

In the province of Foggia the coastal towers extend along the entire coast of the Gargano and significant are those erected in the territory of the Municipality of San Nicandro Garganico: Torre Calarossa, of which today only a few ruins remain and Torre Mileto, built on a quadrangular base, as imposing as a few others with the four corners facing the cardinal points, it also has five machicolations and a stone staircase which leads to the first floor.

The Towers in the province of Bari

Going down towards Bari, one of the most important is Torre Calderina, between Molfetta and Bisceglie, in the center of a splendid area where in addition to the Mediterranean scrub there are archaeological sites, ancient villas, trulli, dry stone walls, caves, liame and pebble beaches . In the land of Bari one of the most evocative remains that of San Vito which takes its name from the nearby Abbey in the territory of Polignano a Mare.

The Towers in the province of Taranto

Long sandy beaches and a crystalline sea characterize the coast up to the border with the territory of Taranto where Torre Colimena stands, in the municipality of Manduria, which with its machicolations and the signs of the drawbridge placed close to the staircase, guards the long stretch of golden beach.

The Towers in the province of Brindisi

In the province of Brindisi, among the best preserved towers we find that of Torre Guaceto inside the natural park of the same name where you can stop to observe passing and resident birds, and the imposing Torre Santa Sabina on the coast of the town of Carovigno. Worth a stop and a photographic memory are Torre Specchiolla on the border between the territories of Brindisi and Lecce, Torre Sant’Andrea in Melendugno and the Torri del Serpe and dell’Orte in Otranto.

The Towers in the province of Lecce

• From San Foca you reach Roca Vecchia, a once thriving Messapian city and then a very active port equipped with a fortress of which the evocative ruins are preserved. The tower, also reduced to ruins, dates back to 1568 and has the typical truncated pyramid structure just like Torre dell’Orso in the seaside resort of the same name.

• Once in Otranto we head to L’Orte. First you come across the cylindrical Torre del Serpe. Further on are the Masseria dell’Orte and the Torre dell’Orte, a large and low truncated pyramid structure which served as a fort.

• Returning to the coast road, you head towards Torre Sant’Emiliano where a truncated cone tower dominates one of the most beautiful stretches of the eastern Salento coast. The coastal road leads to Porto Badisco and Santa Cesarea, locations defended by Torre Minervino, Torre Specchia di Guardia, Torre Santa Cesarea and the imposing Torre Miggiano.

• On the Ionian side, between Ugento and the Nardò marina, the Palude del Capitano extends, a wetland where a particular marshy habitat has been created. Watching over the caves is a sixteenth-century giant but now almost reduced to a ruin: Torre Uluzzo, known as Porto Selvaggio.

• In Santa Maria al Bagno you can admire the Torre del Fiume, better known as the “Four Columns”, because the perimeter walls of an ancient castle collapsed.

• Continuing towards Gallipoli, before reaching the Torre del Pizzo, you pass through one of the most naturalistically interesting areas of the province of Lecce.

• Continuing south you come across Torre Suda, while in the territory of Ugento you will find Torre San Giovanni, one of the most “in” places on the coast, where the landscape becomes even more suggestive thanks to a dense pine forest with specimens of Aleppo pine that extends onto the beach.

The Apulian capasoni, from the dialect term “capase” (i.e. capable), are yellow ocher or brown yellow clay containers of variable capacity (from a few liters up to 300) used in ancient times as containers for wine, extra virgin olive oil and water, due to their ability to keep the temperature inside them constant without the contents altering.

The Apulian capasoni: from containers to furnishing objects

• In the past, when cooperative cellars did not yet exist, the capasoni replaced the barrels and were used to contain the wine produced after the harvest but also solid foods such as dried figs, pickled mushrooms and pickled olives.

• The capasone was sealed with a clay plate fixed with a mixture of lime and ash (only in this way was it possible to avoid infiltrations from the outside).

• At the bottom, a small tap called “cannedda” or a cork called “pipolo” was fixed. After use, the capasone, in order to be used again, was washed with water and ground tuff with the aid of a brush. Above the latter were fixed tufts of myrtle, thyme and other fragrant essences.

For years, capasoni have also been used during the wine and oil trade in the Mediterranean.

Since the early 2000s, these traditional jars have also become a beautiful design object in great demand to decorate villas and gardens. There is no shortage of testimonies of capasoni even in luxurious resorts, even in America. In fact, this object can match perfectly in a garden as a flower vase or in a living room to give the room an atmosphere of times gone by.

The capasoni are distinguished from other containers such as the Sicilian jars which have a stockier and more capacious shape, from the Ligurian jar which has a lighter yellow colour, from the Tuscan jars which have a more reddish color and from the Umbrian jars which are lighter and tapered.

The Salento “liame” are rural buildings, with a quadrangular or rectangular plan with a barrel vault. The perimeter walls of the liàme are built with dry stone, while the barrel vault roof is made of blocks of tufaceous stone.

Function of Salento “liame”

Built to serve as tool warehouses or temporary shelters, today transformed into second homes, into delightful hermitages for lovers of absolute peace and nature. These suggestive houses, typical of Salento and Puglia more generally, scattered throughout the countryside, date back to the year 1000, like the pajare (which instead have a circular plan). In the peasant culture that Salento has now left behind, they were the ideal environment for drying most of the fruits that this strip of land provided: from figs to broad beans, from almonds to walnuts, etc.

In fact, these constructions allowed a more spacious terrace than that of the trullo, for different uses, such as drying “the chips”, for which the term liama derives from their large terrace (in fact in the Salento dialect “liama” = terrace).

The roofs of these homes, evidence of ancient times, were often flat and plastered with a particular white mortar, as were the walls. These are simple and poor homes made with material easily available locally and were created with the aim of hosting farmers engaged in field work for short periods.

Construction techniques

Their original character is expressed through the technique and material used to build them. The stones found in the open countryside were arranged together without the use of mortar. The roof, as mentioned, was that of the barrel vault, created with blocks of tuff.

Final results?

A unique environment without windows, outside a small staircase to allow you to reach the roof. Houses with star or corner vaults are decidedly warmer in winter and cooler in summer. The credit goes to the stone and the particular shape of the ceiling which spreads the heat more uniformly, without dispersing it.

They are very frequent constructions in the area, both in the countryside and in the marinas of Peluse and Torre Pali.

Traveling through Salento it is still possible to find the traces left by the ancient peoples who made this corner of Italy an enchanting and unforgettable place. And while walking, you can’t help but stop to notice the endless, perfect and aligned buildings. A unique architectural style, a centuries-old construction technique, which has survived to this day thanks to the work of the ancient masters, custodians of tradition.

Lecce known as the “Florence of the South” is an open-air museum that enchants its visitors with the exuberance of its architectural features to be discovered little by little. A place to experience at any time of the day, when the sun in its path crosses the richness of its buildings and creates a wonderful play of embroidery and decorations. Walking through the streets of the Lecce baroque is a musical experience, with fast melodies and refined embellishments that suddenly appear in front of the many manifestations and testimonies of a past that is still alive. In fact, “old Lecce“, as its original inhabitants called it, seems like a city out of time, suspended between past and present in a very suggestive atmosphere, which has attracted cultured travelers from the most distant corners of Europe.

The house of Baroque

Visiting Lecce means getting lost among the wonders of the Baroque, letting yourself be enchanted by the churches and palaces embroidered in stone, the courtyards and secret gardens. Walking through the streets of the historic centre, it is possible to notice how Lecce is full of history and art: for example, there are numerous testimonies from the Roman era, such as the Amphitheater and the Roman theatre, but what characterizes it most is its peculiar style baroque, renamed “Lecce baroque” precisely because it was revisited in a completely new and original way.

This style, developed in the seventeenth century under Spanish domination, is distinguished by the sumptuous ornaments that enrich the facades of the buildings, exquisitely picturesque decorations created thanks to the use of Lecce stone. The most famous example of Lecce Baroque is the Basilica of Santa Croce, built between the 16th century and the end of the 17th century, renowned for its unmistakable rose window.

Alongside the majestic work is a rare example of sober baroque, the adjacent former Celestine convent and the Cathedral of the Assumption with the high bell tower which, together with the Seminary Palace and the Archbishop’s Palace, adorn the suggestive Piazza Duomo, a closed square and beating heart of Lecce, the religious hub of the city.

In short, Baroque art can be felt in every corner of the city, from noble homes to window frames, from chapels to decorated balconies.

Moving a little further, still in the historic center of Lecce, you will find various churches: there is the church of Santa Irene, of San Matteo, of Carmine and of San Giovanni Battista. We also find other splendid examples of Baroque in the Alcantarine church and in Palazzo Marrese.

Lecce Baroque outside Lecce

This style with elaborate shapes also infiltrates the urban fabric of other Salento centers, beyond the borders of Lecce. An example of Baroque can be found in the historic center of Gallipoli, where the Cathedral of Sant’Agata is located: the latter houses, in addition to a rich and elegant façade, also baroque style altars, among which the one built by Cosimo Fanzago. Also in Gallipoli you cannot avoid visiting the monastery of the Discalced Carmelites, also in Baroque style.

Moving south on the Lecce – Maglie, after a few kilometers you come to the junction for Galatina. This city is among the major centers of Salento and houses several valuable baroque creations. The most important is the Mother Church, dedicated to the Apostles Piero and Paolo and built already in the fourteenth century.

Many other examples are:

• the Mother Church of Francavilla Fontana
• the church of San Domenico
• the Basilica of San Martino in Martina Franca
• the Spire of the Immaculate Conception in Nardò
• the church of the Crucifix in Galatone

If the cities we have talked about preserve much of the baroque of Terra d’Otranto, we must however underline that this form of architectural art also managed to establish itself in many of the other local centres, including the lower Salento up to Santa Maria di Leuca. Some testimonies that we cite are the parish church of Lequile, the church of the Immacolata of Cutrofiano, the mother church of Castrì and that of Tricase, but there are too many examples to list them all. Even the smallest towns can often boast their own baroque monument or palace.

The Baroque style and its colors are one of the peculiarities of Salento and, therefore, it was requested that the Salento cities of Lecce and Gallipoli become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A living testimony of prehistory in Puglia are the “Specchie” constructions similar to towers and consist of artifacts of very ancient origins made dry from piles of limestone. It is not possible to give these constructions a precise historical location: according to some scholars, in fact, their appearance dates back to the Neolithic, while, for others, they date back to the times of the Messapians.

Their function

Their real function is very uncertain. According to some paleontologists the Specchie represent the ruins of ancient and gigantic houses, similar to the Sardinian nuraghi and the very famous trulli, for others they are constructions erected for defensive purposes by primitive man, finally, for still others they have a tomb function. But the most concrete hypothesis is that they served as a lookout post to control the coast.

The types of Specchie in Puglia

The mirrors are divided based on size and functions into:

• Large Specchie: structures that rise following a conical shape with a height of approximately 10-15 metres.

• Small Specchie: piles of stone that seem to have had funerary functions. Generally these are simple piles of stones created spontaneously to form small bumps of limestone stones scattered across the countryside.

Where are Specchie found in Puglia

The Itria Valley, some municipalities of Salento and the Gargano have various Specchie scattered throughout their territories. In fact, there are 18 around Ceglie Messapica, 10 near Villa Castelli, others scattered between Cisternino, Fasano and Francavilla Fontana. The most famous of the Tarantina mirrors is that of the hamlet of the municipality of Martina Franca.

Northern Salento and the Oria area also have some specimens of Specchie, others are scattered between the areas of Martano, Ugento, Cavallino and Presicce. There is no shortage of them in the Murgia Barese area. In the territory of Salve, a municipality in Puglia in the province of Lecce, there are 3 mirrors: the Specchia Cantoro, the Specchia Spriculizzi, the Specchia Cucuruzzi, otherwise known as the Fersini, the most impressive and ancient. Rich in charm and mystery, Specchia dei Mori arouses the great interest of scholars and tourists.

Located near Martano-Caprarica, it is also known as the “Segla tu demoniu“. An ancient legend has it that this mirror hides inside a treasure consisting of a hen and twelve golden chicks, impossible to take because they are in the hands of the devil.

Another fascinating legend that hovers around this “enchanted” mirror tells that giant Moors, ancient inhabitants of these places, decided to build this mirror so high to be able to climb up to the sky. The gesture was not appreciated by the gods who therefore caused it to collapse, burying those who had built it with the stones of the collapse.

To date, these ancient buildings are shapeless but at the same time continue to exert a great fascination on the multitudes of tourists who come to visit these places of ritual and mystery.