The Castello di Acquarica del Capo is a structure of Angevin-Norman age and appears as an imposing complex of great historical-cultural importance. The oldest core, built by the Norman lords Bonsecolo, was square in shape, with each side measuring 40 meters, and consisted of a wall reinforced by four towers of which only one is retained. Remnants of this ancient building seem detectable in the remains of the facade of Via Roma. However, nothing can prove that Giovanni Antonio Orsini, owner of the castle in the fifteenth century, had completely rebuilt the defensive structure or restored that of the Norman period. The interior of the building houses, on the ground floor, some rooms formerly used as deposits, while the rooms upstairs were used for noble residence. Inside, traces of the ...

For its austere square frame, some historians trace its origin even up to Roman times, while the upper floor is attributed to the Norman period. During the Angevin period, the castle, in an irregular trapezoidal plan with corner towers, was renovated several times and Charles of Anjou, during his visit to Salento in 1273, stayed as a guest of Count Adenolfo XI Aquinas. In 1537, following the occupation of the city by the barbarians led by the Algerian pirate Barbarossa, the castle was severely damaged: two towers were destroyed as much as the rest of the west wing, the ground floor and first floor. The manor, rebuilt in 1642 by Count Vaaz de Andrada, has undergone a major renovation in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century by the will of the owners of the time, Nicola and ...

The Lucugnano Castle, also known as Palazzo Baronale Alfarano Capece, presents on its body the main characteristics of a civil building of the late Renaissance and the crenellated tower behind those of the defensive structures of earlier centuries.   The tower, with a square plan, is crowned by corbels and is equipped with battlements. The residence, made up of twenty-two rooms on two floors, has a severe Renaissance prospect, characterized by decorative elements in geometrical pattern that adorn the architraves and cornices. The top part of the structure is crowned by a frieze consisting of a series of vertical grooves in dented cornice, all interspersed with five pilaster capitals. The façade shows linearity and harmony that enhance the entire architectural complex, thanks ...

The castle is of modest dimension. The interiors feature archways of stars and barrels and are equipped with a hanging garden. From the ancient decorations remained some frescoes in the main floor and some bas-reliefs of modest workmanship in the throne room. The castle was once a chapel dedicated to St. Vito. ...

The palace has an impressive façade adorned with an entry portal with a machicolation, a balcony with corbels, finely decorated balustrades, and a belfry. Later, the entrance was moved further south, almost in front of the square.   The palace has two large courtyards: the main entrance leads to the first floor through a staircase where the rooms reserved for the nobility can be found; while on the ground floor were the premises for the servants, the warehouses and stables for animals. At the end of the staircase is the large living room that served as a hall for receptions and ceremonies, wherein a chapel can be found. Adjacent to the living room is the representation space, the only one with two lunettes frescoed with scenes from chivalry life.   The citrus ...

  Palazzo Gallone, in the center of Tricase, consists of three main elements: the fortress, the tower and the actual body of the building. The tower, built in the fifteenth century, was equipped with a walled enclosure and a drawbridge, according to the military architectural design of the era. With a scarped base and defended by watchtowers and machicolation, it can be considered one of the most impressive towers of the Terra d'Otranto. Prisons, located inside, still retain the graffiti of prisoners. A wall with a 400 m long moat completed the defense system along with other smaller towers.   In 1661 the Prince of Tricase, Stefano Gallone, obtained the tower and the nearby fortress on the west and began the construction of the palace on a former baronial mansion. ...

  The foundations  of Tutino was erected in the fifteenth century to defend the villagers. The massive walls, 6-7 meters high, are made of stone and bolus and have a scarped base. The castle is aggregated with five of the nine towers of the surrounding medieval walls. The towers were connected by a walkway, still visible in some places. It is one of the few castles in Salento which preserves its original moat. On the eastern side, the moat gives way to an elegant Renaissance façade, articulated on two levels with a severe portal surmounted by the coat of arms. Each of the seven windows of the facade decoration bears a motto in Latin. ...

A wide area in the town of Depressa is occupied by the castle/palace of the Winspeare barons and most especially by the large annexed garden. The castle has a rectangular plan of the sixteenth-century structure in which the two square towers, the open gallery, the great monumental staircase, and the brackets on the west side that supported the walkway, are all still recognizable. At the central courtyard, a porch was added in the late nineteenth century. Surrounded by stone walls and blocks of tuff, the garden, built in the late nineteenth century, consists of two parts; one closer to the palace with concentric paths and trails in a set of rays among a dense vegetation of reeds, and a part marked by perpendicular paths and parallel to the central axis of the citrus ...

The Ruffano Castle, situated at the highest point of the village, was built in 1626 by Rinaldo Brancaccio on a preexisting medieval fortress. The building is devoid of a defense apparatus, mostly reflecting the architectural standards of a large baronial palace built as a mansion. To characterize the structure is the beautiful lodge, built after Carlo Brancaccio’s desire in the second half of 1600, which connects the baronial palace to the Mother Church; thanks to the "Loggia Brancaccio" the noblemen could attend religious services through a special window that gazed directly inside the sacred edifice. In the early years of the 19th century, Nicola Ferrante, as what Carlo Brancaccio did to the Piazza del Popolo, enriched the front of the castle in Piazza San Francesco with the ...

The feudal castle of Giuliano was built in the early 16th century in the ancient heart of the town. The structure has retained its original appearance and the moat, still visible, has a citrus grove. It has the typical features of military architecture of the sixteenth century. On either side of the main facade, with its curtains and four high vertical ramparts, rise two square towers. An arched bridge allows one to go beyond the moat and enter the castle, and is distributed around a large central courtyard onto which all the rooms on the ground floor and the upper floor are facing. The ground floor was used for productive activities (stables, barns, warehouses and rooms for servants), while the first floor was intended for the residence of the feudal lord with the noble rooms. The ...