Also known as the Salento Peninsula or “heel of Italy”, Salento is a region that coincides with the southern part of Puglia, between the Ionian Sea to the west and the Adriatic Sea to the east, comprising the whole province of Lecce, almost all that of Brindisi and part of Taranto’s. Its central position in relation to the European continent and the main development centers of the most important civilized societies in history have led to the contribution of so many cultural influences in different eras.

Porto Cesareo

The first testimonies of the human presence come from the numerous caves that can be admired in the stretch of coast between Otranto and Santa Maria di Leuca. The Messapi were the first example of organized civil society to settle in these areas. The Roman conquest, which took place between 269 and 267 B.C., was a crucial period for the emergence of infrastructures and public works, as well as the beginning of a radical transformation of the landscape and a complete restructuring of the villages. Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which took place in 476 A.D., the peninsula was the subject of looting and plundering by numerous barbarian populations such as the Lombards, Saracens, Ungari and Slavs. The first Byzantine migrations began around the first half of 500 B.C. and concerned the central part of the peninsula, reputed to be safer than the coastal areas. The testimonies of the Byzantine presence still survive in the Grika language, characteristic of the municipalities that constitute the present-day Greece of Salento, and in the uses and customs of the people living in these places. In 1071 the Norman power prevailed, to whom the merit of the establishment of the counties of Lecce and Taranto and the revival of the arts is recognised, while the restoration of the main works of fortification present in the Salentino territory date back to the Swabian. The most atrocious and sadly recalled episode was the massacre by the Turks, who entered Otranto on August 14th, 1480, of about 800 people who refused to convert to the Islamic religion, whose remains are still preserved in the Cathedral of Otranto.

The subsequent Spanish domination gave great impetus to the arts and literature, giving life to a specification of Baroque art, the Leccese Baroque, favoured by the presence in these places of a particularly ductile stone that allowed the realization of all kinds of decorum. Even the Bourbon dominion marked a period of growth, even if the real economic growth of Salento took place during the fascist period, thanks to a skilful reclamation work that interested the swampy areas near the east Coast, and the realization of the Apulian Aqueduct.

The Salento land that conquers, gateway of the East and synthesis of diversity, a metaphor of a happy union between history and nature, artistic treasures and scenic beauties. The geographic position and the wide contact with the sea offer a typical Mediterranean climate made of very mild winters and long, warm and dry summers, always clear skies full of radiant shades, typical and picturesque sunsets, panoramic horizons rich in charm. In summer, when the fruits ripen and the sun makes the ground hot, the Salento explodes in all its natural splendor made of colors, historical centres, districts, beaches, the countryside with its trulli and old farms. Crossing this part of Italy is an unforgettable experience, because every moment and every corner is able to arouse great emotions.

Salento overlooks two seas, the Ionian and Adriatic, and this translates into a variegated landscape, with regular plains and less pronounced coasts in the ionic side and a more wavy and irregular territory in the Adriatic. The rocks, of calcareous origin, constitute a valuable characteristic of the coastal zones, in which one alternates beautiful beaches of fine golden sand with dizzying cliffs, overlooking a turquoise sea with crystalline transparencies, almost the same as the tropics. In this way, beach and cliffs satisfy every holiday taste and offer a great possibility of variation of their tourist itinerary. In the same way, the Salento countryside, with its endless olive groves and colourful gardens, offers wonderful views and sensations of absolute peace. Walking through the streets you have the opportunity to dwell on the most authentic aspects of a landscape always varied and at work.

There are also many cultural and folklore initiatives that, especially in recent years, aim to re-evaluate the historical events of Salento, bringing visitors and local people into contact with an ancient world still very alive and present, made of festivals, songs, trekking, folk festivals and all kinds of events.

This freedom to live the territory is the strong point of Salento, its nature to let you discover it, its vocation to give surprises. Salento is, in every place, at all times, in the work of man, undisputed world heritage.