PARCO DEL CROCIFISSO MURO LECCESE

Muro Leccese, a wonderful city of art, rich in history in every era, from its origins to the present day, holds authentic treasures even outside the perimeter of the ancient village, as in the case of the sumptuous Church of the Crucifix, located in a green park that is a delight for children. It is a monument that is not always open to visitors, but which opens its doors to the faithful and tourists at the beginning of May each year.
In fact, during this period the feast of the Crucifix takes place, which ends with a procession that comes from the city right here. Once upon a time this area was home to the medieval village of Brongo, and it was on the ruins of its small church, from the Byzantine era, that the current monument arose in 1573.
The Salento Trail 2025 will start from this park

PALMARIGGI

A small village located practically in the middle of the Maglie – Otranto route whose name is linked to the prodigious event that according to tradition occurred after the capture of Otranto by the Turks. The inhabitants of the hamlet of San Nicola invoked the protection of the Madonna who appeared holding a palm, and with an army in tow. The Turks, fearing that the army led by the Duke Alfonso of Aragon was about to arrive, moved away and the population was saved. In memory of the event, the town changed its name to Palmarice, then Palmaricce and finally Palmariggi, which means “You who hold the palm“, in honor of the Madonna.
Palmariggi is home to an imposing Aragonese Castle built around 1480 following the capture of Otranto by the Turks, and was part of a vast strategic ring defense system, to protect Otranto itself, the capital of the province of the same name. It was Alfonso of Aragon who ordered the construction of the castle on the ruins of the ancient Fortino di San Nicola, around which the village of Palmariggi was formed around 1330. Today, only two mighty and massive cylindrical towers remain of the structure, separated externally by a string course and joined together by a semi-ruined curtain wall.
It is also known for the festival that takes place every second weekend in October: «I paniri te e site» where the pomegranate and its exclusive uses are celebrated.

THE VILLAGE OF ACAYA

You enter Acaya from the Porta Terra also known as Porta Sant’Oronzo, a civil and religious monument, the only original access to the town that has remained intact. It was built in 1535 with the coat of arms and the dedication to Charles V and the statue of Sant’Oronzo, protector of Acaya.
The village is really small and its historic center is characterized by a few small houses, quiet and tidy streets. Walking through its streets you can grasp all the authenticity of the place.
Acaya Castle is the work of the architectural genius of Gian Giacomo dell’Acaya, who decided to fortify the village of Segine (later renaming it Acaya) to perform defensive functions, given its proximity to the sea. The castle, which dates back to 1535/36, has a trapezoidal structure surrounded by rectangular walls and a moat. It is located at one of the corners of the city walls, while the bastions are positioned at the other corners.

LECCE

Lecce, located in the heart of Salento, in Puglia, is one of the most fascinating cities in southern Italy, often nicknamed the “Florence of the South” for its artistic and architectural richness. Famous for its Barocco Leccese, the city is a riot of elaborate decorations, sculpted facades and imposing churches, made with the typical Lecce stone, a light and easily workable limestone.
Main attractions:
Piazza Sant’Oronzo, Basilica di Santa Croce, Duomo di Lecce, Castello Carlo V
Experiences not to be missed:
Stroll through the historic center among picturesque alleys, artisan shops and cafes.
Savor the Salento cuisine, such as pasticciotto, pucce and fish dishes.
Lecce is a city that combines history, art and traditions with the warm welcome typical of Southern Italy. A perfect place for those looking for a cultural and relaxing holiday!

GROTTA DELLA POESIA ROCA VECCHIA

The Grotta della Poesia, located in Roca Vecchia along the Adriatic coast of Salento, is one of the most beautiful natural pools in the world. This enchanting place is a karst cavity surrounded by cliffs, with crystal clear waters of an intense turquoise color.
According to legend, the name comes from a princess who loved to swim here, inspiring poets and storytellers. The cave is also an important archaeological site, with rock carvings that testify to its importance in ancient times.
An ideal destination for those seeking natural beauty and a dive in a breathtaking setting!

TORRE DELL’ORSO

Torre dell’Orso is a seaside resort in Salento, marina of Melendugno.
Known for its beach of fine silver sand, Torre dell’Orso boasts a particularly clear sea due to the currents of the Otranto Channel. The name of the resort derives from the presence, on the coast, of a 16th century tower used in the past to spot Turkish ships heading towards Salento.
Torre dell’Orso is also known to most as the site of two stacks located a hundred meters from the shore. Legend has it that two sisters, two local farmers, one day approached the sea to cool off. One of the two entered the water and was dragged away by the currents and floundered and screamed for help: the sister could only jump in to help her. In an attempt to reunite, they use up all their strength and embrace one last time, now unable to overcome the fury of the sea, which swallows them and drowns them. However, the god of the sea is sorry, he has compassion for the two innocent sisters, one dead from recklessness and the other from brotherly love; so he transforms them into two stacks, close for eternity.

OTRANTO

The city of Otranto is the easternmost Italian municipality in Italy, and is now internationally known for its tourism and hospitality thanks to its coasts and deep blue sea. Otranto is also historically sadly famous for the Turkish occupation of 1480 and the trail of blood they left there.
On July 28, 1480, 18,000 Ottomans, with a fleet of 150 ships, moved towards the town in Salento with the intention of sacking and conquering it. After a grueling resistance by the Otrantines who did not want to surrender, the Turks took possession of the village, committing all sorts of cruelties. 800 brave men, now Saints, after refusing to convert to Islam, were beheaded on the hill of Minerva.
The Saracens remained in the city for a year, until the Aragonese entered the town and liberated it. But Otranto now retained little of its old charm. The Abbey of Casole had been destroyed, as had the trade and the Cathedral. Reconstruction was urgently needed and the Aragonese were immediately aware of this. They immediately set to work, rebuilding the Cathedral and the walls. The convents of the Dominicans, of San Francesco and of the Observants were rebuilt and, at the end of the 14th century, that of the Capuchins.
Otranto is also home to the Cathedral Floor Mosaic that the monk Pantaleone, belonging to San Nicola di Casole, executed on commission from the Bishop of Otranto, between 1163 and 1165. which represents one of the most important mosaic cycles of the Italian Middle Ages. An extraordinary and grandiose work, animated by a sense of horror vacui for the compositional flair that runs through it, and has been compared to an encyclopedia of images of the time and culture of the Middle Ages. It does not seem to find equivalents, in terms of complexity and level of elaboration, with other contemporary mosaics,

LAKE OF BAUXITE – BAY OF ORTE

Near the Bay of Orte, located a few kilometers south of Otranto along the coast road that leads to Santa Maria di Leuca, there is a very characteristic and well-known lake, which originates in a former bauxite quarry now disused, which has made the water have an intense emerald color, rich in shades of great beauty. We are also near the Punta Palascia lighthouse, a sign that we are at the easternmost point of all of Italy.

MASSERIA CIPPANO

Masseria Cippano became an integral part of the defensive system desired by the then Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, in direct communication with Torre Sant’Emiliano, from which to receive and forward the message of danger to the most internal areas of the hinterland.
Equipped with a tower (about 15 meters high) organized on two floors, enriched by a staircase with a drawbridge. A fortified structure equipped with machicolations, enclosed by wolf-proof walls and supplied with water by a system of cisterns capable of collecting, filtering and transporting the precious liquid to the various rooms. A place of work and war, of life against the cruelty of the Turks. The film Mine Vaganti by Ozpetek was filmed here.

PORTO BADISCO

Porto Badisco is a pearl of rare scenic beauty. A crystalline sea invites you to bathe in every month of the year and the bar «da Carlo» with its prominent square will not fail to cheer you up during the sunny hours. Following the coastal road south you come across Torre Minervino a Saracen tower. They are the coastal towers, a legacy of a fortification plan commissioned by Charles V in the 16th century to defend the coasts of Southern Italy from the bloody invasions of Turkish raiders arriving from the sea. In fact, the danger came from the sea to be warded off with the cry of “mamma… li turchi”.

In Porto Badisco there is also the Grotta dei Cervi, which contains important drawings made with bat guano dating back to the Neolithic and is characterized by numerous ravines and coves of rare beauty. In the direction of Santa Cesarea-Castro-Leuca, furthermore, there is the so-called “Grotta delle Striare“, or witches’ cave, characterized by the entrance crossed diagonally by a strip of rock.

SANTA CESAREA TERME

Santa Cesaria in the Salento dialect, until 1929 called Santa Cesarea is a municipality of 2,869 inhabitants. It is one of the centers with the greatest tourist vocation in Salento. It is a hydrothermal station. The exploitation of the sulphurous waters and thermal muds dates back to the 2nd century BC. The healing waters flow from four caves: the Gattulla, the Solfatara, the Solfurea and the Fetida.
The pagan myth links the genesis of the sulphurous waters to the disintegration of the bodies of the Leuterni giants, killed by Heracles. The Christian version instead wants Cesarea, or Cisaria, to be a young girl with a precocious vocation to monastic life. To escape her father’s repeated incestuous intentions, she hid in a cave where she was saved from the flames that engulfed her father, who was then swallowed up by the sea.
Santa Cesarea Terme is also known for the beauty of its Villas. Among these are Palazzo Sticchi and Villa Raffaella

CASTRO

Castro is located along the eastern coast of the Salento peninsula, the municipality is made up of the main town of medieval origin, located on a promontory 98 m above sea level (Casciu de susu), and the lower part of Castro Marina (Casciu de sutta), built around the port. A fishing and seaside resort, it boasts ancient origins as the heir of the Roman Castrum Minervae. Castro, in addition to its splendid sea (characterized by a large quantity of fresh water springs), is also known for its splendid Aragonese Castle, considered one of the most important castles in all of Puglia.

TRICASE AND THE GREENHOUSE OF THE MYTH

The origin of the name is still uncertain and the subject of studies and research. There are those who attribute its origin to the union of three different hamlets that, by uniting, would have given rise to a single residential nucleus. Another more accredited theory translates the name as inter casas, that is, a town formed in the midst of other hamlets. But there are also those who attribute an etymology deriving from Greek and therefore thesis, tracing its genesis back to Demetrios Tricás, a young official of the Eastern Roman Empire, charged with monitoring the situation of the Capo di Leuca.
Among the noteworthy natural and historical architectural beauties, the following certainly stand out: Palazzo Gallone, the Quercia vallonea, dating back more than 900 years and the Torre del Sasso, ancient remains of a coastal defense system against Saracen attacks.

THE VILLAGE OF SPECCHIA

Specchia, located in the heart of Salento, is a charming village considered one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in Italy“. Characterized by a well-preserved historic center, Specchia fascinates with its paved streets, white stone houses and quiet and timeless atmosphere.
Among the main attractions are the Castello Risolo, which dominates the central square, and the numerous historic churches, such as the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. The village is also known for its hypogean oil mills, ancient underground places for oil production, evidence of the olive-growing tradition of the area.
Specchia is the perfect place to immerse yourself in the culture of Salento, between history, gastronomy and authentic views!

SANCTUARY OF SANTA MARIA DI LEUCA “de finibus terrae“

The church stands on the ruins of a pagan temple dedicated to Minerva, as evidenced by the discovery of an altar, preserved inside the church, on which was written: “Ubi olim Minervae sacrificia offerebantur hodie oblationes Deiparae recipiuntur” (Here where sacrifices to Minerva are offered and gifts, sacred offerings to Mary Christian are deposited)
Following the landing of the apostle Peter, of which the stone cross remains, the local population converted to Christianity. The church boasted a painting of the Virgin that was believed to be the work of Saint Luke which however was lost in the destruction of the same following the edict of Diocletian and Galerius. Pope Julius I ordered its reconstruction a few years later (the year was 343 as reported on a plaque: «Julius hic primus celebrans, emmissa de coelo Indulta accepit. Kalendas, CCCXLIII dum Consecravit hoc templum» (Julius I, celebrating here receives the indulgences from heaven 1 August 343 while consecrating this temple)
Over the years the church was destroyed or sacked several times by the Saracens and the Turks, the various disastrous events are dated 1507, 1537, 1550, 1624 and 1720, but it was always rebuilt and fortified. During the visit of John Paul II in 1990, it was elevated to a Minor Basilica, while another visit papal took place in 2008 with Benedict XVI.

GALLIPOLI

Gallipoli, overlooking the Ionian Sea in the heart of Salento, is one of the most fascinating destinations in Puglia. Its name, which means “beautiful city” in Greek, perfectly describes the mix of history, culture and natural beauty it offers.
The city is divided into two parts:
The Borgo Antico, located on an island connected to the mainland by a bridge, is a labyrinth of alleys, historic buildings and churches such as the splendid Cathedral of Sant’Agata.
The Borgo Nuovo, on the mainland, offers modernity with shops and clubs.
Gallipoli is also famous for its enchanting beaches, such as Baia Verde and Punta della Suina, with crystal clear waters and golden sand. Between culture and relaxation, it is an ideal destination to experience the charm of Salento!

PORTO CESAREO

Porto Cesareo, on the Ionian coast of Salento, is one of the most popular seaside resorts in Puglia, renowned for its white sandy beaches and crystal clear waters reminiscent of the Caribbean. Its coastline, over 17 km long, includes paradises such as Punta Prosciutto and Torre Lapillo.
The town, originally a fishing village, maintains an authentic atmosphere, with a picturesque marina and restaurants where you can enjoy fresh fish dishes. Furthermore, Porto Cesareo is famous for the Natural Reserve and Marine Protected Area, rich in flora, fauna and spectacular seabeds for snorkeling and diving.
Perfect for a holiday between sea, nature and Salento traditions!

COPERTINO

Copertino, located in the heart of Salento, is a town rich in history and spirituality, best known for being the birthplace of San Giuseppe da Copertino, patron saint of students and aviators. His mystical figure attracts numerous pilgrims every year.
Among the main attractions is the majestic Castello di Copertino, one of the most impressive Renaissance fortresses in Puglia, with elegant courtyards and frescoes. The Sanctuary of San Giuseppe da Copertino is a fundamental place of worship, while the historic center is a maze of narrow streets, churches and noble palaces.
Copertino is also renowned for the DOC wine produced in its countryside, making it a perfect destination for those seeking art, faith and authentic flavors!

NARDÒ

Nardò, located in the heart of Salento, is a city rich in history, art and culture. Its historic center is a jewel of Lecce Baroque, with noble palaces, decorated churches and the splendid Piazza Salandra, considered one of the most beautiful squares in Italy.
Among the main attractions are the Cathedral of the Assumption, with Romanesque and Gothic elements, and the Acquaviva Castle, now the seat of the town hall. Nardò also boasts a wonderful coast: its marinas, such as Santa Maria al Bagno and Porto Selvaggio, offer crystal clear sea and uncontaminated landscapes.
An ideal place for those looking for art, history and nature in one destination!