“Gold” as the age of the experience gained over the years; and here, SalentoVirtuale.com has also thought about you, who love art, culture, history, traditions of the places you want to reach. And Salento glitters out of all this and will guide you into a moody atmosphere of meaning.
Beginning with Lecce, the Baroque homeland, cradle of a thousand emotions that gives every corner of it, its stone carved for millennia of history …
Then, on the road to Casalabate, we will come across the abbey of Santa Maria di Cerrate, which houses the well known Museum of Popular Traditions of Salento: an inescapable stop to capture the “essence” of the Salento territory. And still a trip to the greenness of Grecia Salentina: for a walk through the houses at the court of Martano, a visit to the Civic Museum of Natural History of Calimera, and a look at the typical “pozzelle”, sparse a bit throughout the area , where people once used to draw water for domestic use or for drinking animals …
Then we will go to Otranto, the “East Gate” to admire the characteristic mosaic floor of the Cathedral, the majestic Castle and a myriad of other ‘treasures’ to be discovered once in place. From Otranto to Maglie, the pass is short for an excursion to this thriving town that has given birth to many illustrious characters, among them Aldo Moro … And yet we reach Tricase, especially in its ‘hamlets’: on the road to Tricase Porto we will meet the Oak of the 100 Knights to enjoy a little of his ‘immense’ shadow; in Tutino we will admire the Castle of the Trane; another Castle is located in Caprarica and dates back to the 16th century; and finally the Crypt of S. Maria del Gonfalone in Sant’Eufemia, supported in part by some columns dug into the rock. From Tricase to Patu to ‘revive’ the history of Campo Re: the Centopietre and the Church of St. John the Baptist, in fact, commemorates a historic battle between the Christian army and the Moors …
A handful of miles and we are in Leuca: a stop at the “De Finibus Terrae” Sanctuary, at least once in a lifetime, is said to open the way for Paradise …
Then again Alessano for a look at Calvary located in Trappeti district; Taurisanocol its Sanctuary of Mary SS. of the road; Casarano for the Church of S. Maria della Croce located in the hamlet of Casaranello; Parabita with the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Coltura and the Pinacoteca Museum “Enrico Giannelli”; Tuglie for a visit to the Museum of Rural Civilization, housed in the halls of the seventeenth-century Palazzo Ducale. It is a collection of agricultural tools, handicrafts and rural life between the eighteenth and the nineteenth century … The last mete of our itinerary, but certainly not of importance, is Gallipoli, the “pearl” embedded in the beautiful frame of the Jonio you will be able to find yourself in the ‘alleys’ of the ancient village and make you intoxicate the art of the church you will encounter on the street …
In short, this Salento offers truly unique opportunities for those who like to ‘sail’ among the artistic and cultural waves of a territory that is almost an ocean of history and millenarian traditions to explore from the top.
Roberta Vittorini
