Puglia Real Estate

OTRANTO

If the visitor makes it to Lecce, and how rewarding that is, he or she can’t miss the wonderful craggy coast that starts in Otranto and ends in Santa Maria di Leuca. Otranto is a fascinating town 39 km far from Lecce, on the east coast of the Salentinian peninsula. This is an active fishing port and an increasingly growing tourist site. Otranto is also an important connection to Greece. Its centre is where the ancient Hydrus was (or Hydruntum, a little river that flows into the sea). Hydrus was a Greek town. During Byzantine rule, Otranto grew in importance thanks to the diffusion of the Oriental religion in the South of Italy. In the XI-XII centuries, after the Norman domination of Robert the Guiscard, it developed into a destination of crusades and also an important trading post for Jewish people, Dalmatians, Levantines and Venetians. Its period of splendour ended in July 1480, when the Turkish fleet besieged the town with the purpose of creating a union with Spanish Muslims, passing through Italy and France. After fifteen days and a strong resistance, a population of 800 refugees were beheaded (they were later proclaimed “Saint martyrs” by the church). Their blame was to have refused to abjure their religious faith. Their bones are now in the cathedral. After about ten years under the Aragonese rule in 1495, Otranto was occupied by Carlo VII and the French army . The old town, almost totally surrounded by Aragonese walls, is very characteristic because of its little white houses and paved streets. Access to it is through Porta Terra by which stands the wonderful AlfonsinaTower dating back the late fifteenth century. The Aragonese castle is definitely the most visited place by tourists. It was built by Ferdinando d’Aragona after 1481. It has a pentagonal plan with three circular towers and a bulkwark overlooking the sea.