SALENTO TRAIL
Story of a journey
This is the presentation of a group of friends who are bike enthusiasts and lovers of Salento, of how, then, those friends became a group first and an association later. It is the story of a deep passion for the area, a deep-rooted respect for nature enriched by an irrepressible attraction for adventure and exploration. It is the synthesis of years spent in getting informed and searching for all the beauty of this fantastic peninsula all ‘ extreme south of Italy… and finally, this is the story of how, over the years, those places, those passions and those discourses have been transformed into itineraries and then become paths, which connected in a unique and fluid way have given life to this amazing adventure
This is how the ASD Rtquadro was born with the aim of giving those who want to try it a fantastic experience of history, seas, places and typically Salento cuisines.
We have chosen Paduli Park as the starting point for this unmissable experience. In our wanderings we came across the Lua and Abitare i Paduli associations, and with them we share the need for beauty and amazement. On the saddle of the bicycle we pursue the charm of discovery, we practice hospitality, we want to meet responsible visitors, precious allies for taking care of the riches of this generous land. On the other hand, these are the traits that make up the essence of the public olive grove, the starting point and conclusion of our adventure. It is the place that most of all returns the policies that revolve around the Agricultural Park, the center that will radiate the Salento Trail with its founding energy and at the same time will be enriched by the experiences of those who return from this journey of exploration.
The Salento Trail is the result of an idea dictated by our passion for «Irregular Roads»; a mixed path, dirt road-asphalt, which from San Cassiano (town south of Lecce) leads to the Adriatic Sea, precisely north of Otranto, where the coasts are sandy and the dunes (sandy hills close to the beaches) protect by the strong Salento wind. You get there passing through the hinterland, through the Salento countryside, crossing the signs left by a thousand-year history of peoples who have succeeded one another in these lands since the Neolithic.
Pedaling, you will touch Dolmen and Manhir of an age of which they are the only witnesses; you will cross unequivocal signs left by vanished civilizations (Messapi), and then pedal on Roman roads dug by the wheels of carts… and then farmhouses, medieval villages and fortified farms and woods from before agriculture.
Crossing the olive groves and hills covered with Mediterranean scrub, the route will take you to the sea. Here, in Salento, the sea has a strange effect, the gaze extends far, the eyes shine with light and warmth and the heart is filled with feeling and admiration. The sea, of this long journey, is the main actor, once met north of Otranto, it will accompany you as far as Capo di Leuca and beyond, going up the peninsula up to marina di Ugento, where it will leave you, sure of being a goodbye, never a goodbye, because this sea stays in your heart and on your skin with its scent of saltiness and infinity.
Leaving the sea you take the road back which is always a little melancholy and this is how you will feel when you climb from the coast towards the heights, our “Serre Salentine“, which will escort you to the starting point, a little gentle and a bit arduous, with dry, short and hard rips almost as if you wanted to quickly reach the sky.
Riding through the narrow streets of the greenhouses, riding a donkey, you will arrive at conquering perched cities, defended by thick walls, and it will seem like you are entering them on the saddle of your steed, with your shoulder aching just like after a long ride, but the attack was kicked off and the city taken… and then away, still away closer and closer to the goal, and always on a greenhouse, from where we salute his Madonna, with our gaze turned to ever more distant horizons…
and finally down towards the plain, inside the Paduli with its thousand-year-old trees and its labyrinthine streets from which it is difficult to get out without nostalgia mixed with a sense of peace and tranquility.
But in the meantime we have arrived, and after a greeting in the brightest light we allow ourselves a hug… tired, sweaty, hungry and thirsty… and let ourselves be pampered, refreshed and recharged until we are human again.
What a trip it was!!!
Millennia transformed into kilometres, the past crossed on a bike and a future full of intentions… Salento will be in my present again.
Why Salento Trail
SALENTO TRAIL
Story of a journey
This is the presentation of a group of friends who are bike enthusiasts and lovers of Salento, of how, then, those friends became a group first and an association later. It is the story of a deep passion for the area, a deep-rooted respect for nature enriched by an irrepressible attraction for adventure and exploration. It is the synthesis of years spent in getting informed and searching for all the beauty of this fantastic peninsula all ‘ extreme south of Italy… and finally, this is the story of how, over the years, those places, those passions and those discourses have been transformed into itineraries and then become paths, which connected in a unique and fluid way have given life to this amazing adventure
This is how the ASD Rtquadro was born with the aim of giving those who want to try it a fantastic experience of history, seas, places and typically Salento cuisines.
We have chosen Paduli Park as the starting point for this unmissable experience. In our wanderings we came across the Lua and Abitare i Paduli associations, and with them we share the need for beauty and amazement. On the saddle of the bicycle we pursue the charm of discovery, we practice hospitality, we want to meet responsible visitors, precious allies for taking care of the riches of this generous land. On the other hand, these are the traits that make up the essence of the public olive grove, the starting point and conclusion of our adventure. It is the place that most of all returns the policies that revolve around the Agricultural Park, the center that will radiate the Salento Trail with its founding energy and at the same time will be enriched by the experiences of those who return from this journey of exploration.
The Salento Trail is the result of an idea dictated by our passion for «Irregular Roads»; a mixed path, dirt road-asphalt, which from San Cassiano (town south of Lecce) leads to the Adriatic Sea, precisely north of Otranto, where the coasts are sandy and the dunes (sandy hills close to the beaches) protect by the strong Salento wind. You get there passing through the hinterland, through the Salento countryside, crossing the signs left by a thousand-year history of peoples who have succeeded one another in these lands since the Neolithic.
Pedaling, you will touch Dolmen and Manhir of an age of which they are the only witnesses; you will cross unequivocal signs left by vanished civilizations (Messapi), and then pedal on Roman roads dug by the wheels of carts… and then farmhouses, medieval villages and fortified farms and woods from before agriculture.
Crossing the olive groves and hills covered with Mediterranean scrub, the route will take you to the sea. Here, in Salento, the sea has a strange effect, the gaze extends far, the eyes shine with light and warmth and the heart is filled with feeling and admiration. The sea, of this long journey, is the main actor, once met north of Otranto, it will accompany you as far as Capo di Leuca and beyond, going up the peninsula up to marina di Ugento, where it will leave you, sure of being a goodbye, never a goodbye, because this sea stays in your heart and on your skin with its scent of saltiness and infinity.
Leaving the sea you take the road back which is always a little melancholy and this is how you will feel when you climb from the coast towards the heights, our “Serre Salentine”, which will escort you to the starting point, a little gentle and a bit arduous, with dry, short and hard rips almost as if you wanted to quickly reach the sky.
Riding through the narrow streets of the greenhouses, riding a donkey, you will arrive at conquering perched cities, defended by thick walls, and it will seem like you are entering them on the saddle of your steed, with your shoulder aching just like after a long ride, but the attack was kicked off and the city taken… and then away, still away closer and closer to the goal, and always on a greenhouse, from where we salute his Madonna, with our gaze turned to ever more distant horizons…
and finally down towards the plain, inside the Paduli with its thousand-year-old trees and its labyrinthine streets from which it is difficult to get out without nostalgia mixed with a sense of peace and tranquility.
But in the meantime we have arrived, and after a greeting in the brightest light we allow ourselves a hug… tired, sweaty, hungry and thirsty… and let ourselves be pampered, refreshed and recharged until we are human again.
What a trip it was!!!
Millennia transformed into kilometres, the past crossed on a bike and a future full of intentions… Salento will be in my present again.
