The church, next to the monastery, consists of a single nave composed of three surroundings (a room, a choir, and a presbytery) and eight altars. The walls are characterized by Doric pilasters and plasters and in the thickness of the walls were the recovered altars. It presents a barrel vault with lunettes, plastered and painted. The façade, flanked by two pilasters and crowned with a broken pediment, is highlighted by three niches with statues and an entrance portal aligned with a window tracery.   Behind the convent is a cloister, which served as a shelter for pilgrims who spent the night. The function of the Monastery of St. Francis of Paola, located along Via dei Pellegrini which was probably to mirror the actions of Leuca Piccola di Barbarano, was to offer ...

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 square of San Giuseppe in Corsano allows an access to an interesting underground oil mill. The structure has been the subject of a developmental project in recent years, but now appears closed and abandoned.   In the mill, it is possible to observe the milling basin and a large millstone.   ...

The Saint Sophia Church of Corsano was completely rebuilt in 1939 by the architect Benito Leante di Galatone, on the site of a sixteenth century church which was destroyed because of some static failures of the foundations.   The exterior facade is very simple, reminiscent of the Romanesque style, has a large rose window and lombard bands that decorate the top part.   The interior is also very simple, divided into three naves, each ending with an altar, the major, central, is dedicated to Saint Sophia, the sides are dedicated to San Biagio and to Our Lady of the Rosary. From the antique structure, some paintings and eighteenth-century wooden pulpit were preserved.  ...

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 ...

It features a simple façade set on three orders. The lower order is characterized by a Baroque portal on which the date "1758" can be seen; the second order has a central window in lira; while the mixed-line tympanum, with a statue of St Ippazio in the center of a niche, was built later as the date of 1791 indicates.   The interior, with a Latin cross, has two deep chapels on each side. In addition to valuable paintings, inside is a sixteenth-century pulpit with arabesque motifs and a pipe organ arranged on wooden choir with paintings of stalls. On a pillar is a fresco from the first half of the sixteenth century, relevant to the previous structure, depicting Saint Eligio. ...

The original core of Matine farm complex dates back to the sixteenth century and is built from the tower. In subsequent periods,  several rooms , defined as the "curte", which was the open space where daily activities were carried out, were added to the original tower. Annexed to the farm is a garden arranged in straight paths and dominated by the presence of a dovecote tower.   The fortified tower is characterized by corbels supporting the parapet of the terrace and the drain, aligned to the windows and the doors. Visible not far from the farm is a farmyard, still perfectly intact.   The farm, located in a wide cultivated arable land and surrounded by olive groves, visually dominates the surrounding area, with the exception of some recent buildings of small ...

The little church has a simple gabled façade with an entrance surmounted by a tympanum and a small central rose window. Adjacent to it is a square bell tower. The interior has a single nave and ends with a semicircular apse in which a niche, illustrating the Virgin appearing in front of the three village children of Fatima, is inserted.   Surrounding the church is an extensive pine grove. ...

The hill of Monte Orco is located on the northwest of Tricase, in the territory of Sant'Eufemia. It is a sloped hill that houses thorny oak trees which are up to 4 meters high. From the hill, which extends to the area of ​​ Santuario della Madonna di Fatima in Caprarica del Capo, anyone can enjoy a splendid view of the surrounding territory. For this reason, since 1976, the area has been chosen to represent the Presepe Vivente or Christ's Nativity. For twenty years now, the Presepe Vivente of Tricase attracts thousands of visitors every year.   In the representation of Christ's Nativity, local tradition-with men and women engaged in the most ancient Salentine crafts -is mixed with historical tradition, which involve a scrupulous representation of Roman sceneries like ...

Taking Via Tempio from the small square in front of the Tricase cathedral, a small structure can be found, which in present time is privately owned, and is easily identified as a small church for the shape of its facade.   The facade is very simple with a portal surmounted by a rose window.   Inside, the structure has a rectangular plan and ends with a pseudo-apse on which a door opens that connects to the house behind it, which probably have been the accommodation of the monks. A picture of Mary used to be above the door, which left no trace of its remains.   During the restoration, an ossuary in a tufaceous bank was discovered from under the floor. ...

The mother church of Tricase is dedicated to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The present structure is the result of a series of renovations that were carried out over the centuries.   The main façade has a portal decorated by columns with composite capitals, topped by a niche which houses the statue of the praying Mary.   The interior, in a simple Latin cross with a single nave and a transept, is furnished with furniture and accessories of the previous structures such as the Renaissance baptismal fountain, visible on the left upon entering the church. In the left transept, a monumental altar hosts the sixteenth century painting of the Virgin with Child and Saints Matteo and Francesco da Paola, attributed to Paolo Caliari the Veronese; while the ...

The Baroque facade of San Domenico church, completed in the seventeenth century, has a portal surmounted by a statue of St. Dominic de Guzman, and the busts of St. Peter and St. Paul. The top of the pediment is decorated with statues of saints valued in the Dominican Order.   The interior, with a single nave, is illuminated by 13 window lyre, and has seven chapels alternated with polychrome statues of Dominican saints. The transept is replaced by two large chapels that proceed to the main altar. Baroque altars and precious paintings decorate the church: artists like Saverio Lillo, Giovan Domenico Catalano, Giuseppe Zimbalo, and Gioacchino Toma worked on them.   Down the nave, the wooden choir is located, made in 1703 by Oronzo Pirti. The suspended wooden sky with ...

  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. ...

The little church, located in the countryside northwest of Tricase, in the territory of Tutino, presents a somber façade with a simple portal that bears the inscription "Virgini Pietatis Dicatum". The interior has a unique nave and ends with the main altar topped by a modern mosaic depicting the Pietà (a replacement of an old painting, stolen in the 70s). ...

The Pivataro menhir is located on the outskirts of Tutino, in the middle of a road intersection. It stands on a high, stone-coated, circular base. Two overlapping fragments remained from the menhir, roughly repaired in the late 90's and marked by a visible score line. The total height is approximately 1.20 m. There is a cross engraved on both of its east and west sides. ...

Along the dirt roads on the slopes of Serra del Fico, it is possible to come across an ancient farm complex in poor condition. This is the Masseria Serrafica, from the name of the Serra where it is located, now a subject of massive renovations due to the poor state besetting the structure. It is one of the typical farm complexes of Salento, made up of a section for agricultural activities and a part devoted to residential functions. ...

The property is a large farm complex located in an area involving paths that lead back to an ancient road of Messapian and Roman age (via Sallentina). Near the farm are visible traces of ruts and some tombs were found in the rocky bank. The carriage tracks are visible along the dirt road facing the farm. The property, inaccessible and unsafe, is a typical fortified complex, the center of local agricultural activities until the mid-twentieth century linked to the production of wheat, tobacco and oil. ...

The Bosco Macchia di Ponente is a protected wildlife characterized by the presence of monuments of rural civilization. The forest, which is  totally surrounded by a high wall, is inaccessible. It covers an area of ​​about 13 ha and is classified as a Site of Community Importance (SCI) since 1995. The forest is located in a flat and uniform landscape, characterized by forests and patches of Quercus Coccifera, and the substrate is characterized by red soil. ...

Taking the Strada comunale Macchia di Ponente, incorporated into a recently built wall , is a menhir named after Principano, which is an ancient medieval farmhouse previously situated in this area.   The structure, of a parallelepiped shape, with a height of about 1.90 m and a section of 0.65x0.40 m, presents numerous crosses engraved on the front. The menhir is probably a part of a megalith of larger dimensions, not placed in its original position.   It is one of the many megaliths of Salento of the pre-Roman times, then Christianized through the incision of crosses. ...

The small chapel of St. Elias is a non-urban structure, north of Depressa, along the road to Castiglione. The church was built in the seventeenth century, in an area characterized by the presence of ancient necropolis. The facade is very simple and leads into a rectangular room with a small altar on which there used to be a picture of the Transfiguration. ...

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 ...

At 116 meters above sea level, on the crest of the Serra del Mito, stands the Torre del Sasso.   The existence of the tower is then ascertained by 1584. It belongs to the system of coastal fortifications built by Charles V in the first half of the sixteenth century. The tower, now partially ruined and difficult to access, is composed of a truncated pyramid base and an overlying squared part. Only one side of the tower is visible, made of masonry stones irregularly mixed with red clay, plastered and reinforced with abutments in tuff blocks. Unlike other towers, the upper compartment must have a barrel vault and a covering with regular tuff blocks, as can be imagined by the remains of the still visible foundation. ...

The abbey is an ancient monastery complex of the IX century, later incorporated within a fortified farm complex. Only ruins and parts of walls remained of the original structure. The highly preserved part is the dovecote tower, located at a short distance from the abbey and still in the countryside. ...

The Bosco Guarini is a forested area of ​​approximately 2.5 hectares of extension, located near the coast, about 50-80 m above sea level, which benefits from a particular type of hot and humid microclimate. It consists of lush holm oak (Quercus ilex), with exemplars of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) and eucalyptus (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), and an undergrowth formed by Laurus nobilis and Pistacia terebinthus. Numerous vallonia (Quercus macrolepis) are within the woods, including an exemplary secular trunk of 1 meter in diameter.   The Bosco Guarini expands from the hill down to Tricase Porto, in an area surrounded by stone walls. ...

The territory of Tricase is known for the presence of a particular kind of oak,from the Quercus macrolepis species, known as Vallonea. The area of ​​the Unico Biotopo represents the most conspicuous population of oaks, which for monolithic purity is defined as "forest".   It presents adult exemplars of notable dimension as well as young trees of "recent" planting. The forest can be reached bythe  local road "Finocchiaro” that from the church of the Vergine di Costantinopoli, leads to Borgo Pescatori.   In addition to its uniqueness and importance from an environmental perspective, the area of ​​ the Bosco has been set up with a children's playground and an equipped athletic course for adults, and is ...

The Church of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, known locally as the Chiesa dei Diavoli, is a extra-urban octagonal structure, built in the seventeenth century by the Marquis Gattinara. The upper part of the church is defined by a double cornice which makes the extrados of the vault instantly visible. A bell tower is set on the attic of the brickwork on the southeastern part.   The interior is marked by angular pilasters with Corinthian capitals and round arches; the ceiling consists of a pavilion vault with lunettes set on the octagonal support. The remains of the original altar are on the walls. The Virgin of Constantinople, adored by angels, saints and by the same developer was depicted on the main altar. ...

The Bosco di Tricase is an integral part of the Parco Regionale Costa Otranto Santa Maria di Leuca - Bosco di Tricase, established in 2006 with the aim of protecting a remarkable natural heritage which includes Sites of Community Importance as the coast between Otranto and Leuca, the Bosco di Tricase and the Parco delle Querce of Castro.   The great fragmentation of forests in deciduous oak, due to human activities such as agriculture, grazing, urban settlements, has meant that the "Bosco delle Vallonee di Tricase" is the only forest of oak vallonea present in Italy with monolithic purity.   The proliferation of vallonea is due to the Mediterranean climate, but characterized by rainfall concentrated in the autumn. ...

The Quercia Vallonea of Tricase is an example of an exceptional dimension of Quercus macrolepis of more than 900 years old: the trunk, in fact, has a circumference of 4.25 m and the foliage covers an area of ​​approximately 700 m². The Quercia Vallonea rises in a narrow traffic island bordered by stone walls, along the Tricase -Tricase Porto road; other Vallonea oaks stand close to the centuries-old oak trees, within the same traffic island and in the surrounding area.   ...

The Bosco Le Chiuse, located in an area between the towns of Tricase and Tiggiano, is a small forest core, scenically captivating, because it is situated along the steep slopes downwards to the sea. It is primarily composed with Lecceta, which  in areas with higher altitude is replaced with a sparse tree lines of Vallonea oaks and shrubs of Elah. In the most steep parts, where outcroppings predominate,  species that are typically fluvial like Alyssum of Leuca, the Scrofularia Puglia (Scrophularia lucida) and Campanula Puglia can be found.   ...

The Torre Palane is located approximately 15 meters above sea level and is overhanging on a cliff just a short distance from the town of Marina Serra.   The tower, existing since 1569, is square in shape and of considerable size. The structure has a truncated pyramid base with a square plan, surrounded by a curb, on which rise the animated walls with openings of various sizes. On a series of protruded corbels, the crowning is set up provided with the original machicolation.   Inside, a barrel-vaulted room leads to a second room, vaulted all the same, below the ground level, with no openings and intended for cistern or deposit. ...

Positioned stunningly on the Promontorio del Calino, overlooking the sea of ​​Marina Serra, is the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Assumption, surrounded by a large garden with thick vegetation.   The structure looks very simple and is characterized by the typical elements of the fortified structures: at the doors and windows are machicolations positioned for defensive purposes; on the facade is a marble plaque which says that the church was elevated into a Shrine in 1950 (saint year) for the proclamation of the dogma of the Assumption.   The interior has a single nave covered by a star vault. Placed on the main altar is the painting of the Lady of the Assumption by the Neapolitan painter, Paolo Fenoglio. Entering on the left side, there is a canvas depicting the Holy ...

The tower, existing since 1565, stands alone at 129 meters above sea level on a rocky promontory.   The tower, made with thick walls in irregular stones and red clay, was composed by a truncated cone base with a diameter of approximately 11 m and a cylindrical upper part separated by a curb.   The upper floor, almost completely ruined, is covered with a vestment of regular tuff blocks. Inside, you can still distinguish a cistern with a barrel vault. ...

It deals with a complex consisting of a sixteenth-century tower and the annexed former military barracks of the early 20th century. The tower stands at about 125 meters above sea level on a rocky promontory with steep slopes characterized by shrubs and spontaneous herbs, but also by olive tree terrace. The tower consists of a single floor of truncated cone shape, corresponding to the original basement with a brick staircase close to the outer wall and by a projecting ridge, which highlights the plan of the upper terrace.   ...

The Cipolliane caves are of three divisions that open onto the cliff facing east, along the path between the Novaglie coast and on the area of the Ciolo canal. The caves, now about 30 meters above sea level, was once touched by the sea, as evidenced by the presence of shells, scallops and bivalve mollusks that cover the surface of the caves, caused by the erosive power of the ramming sea of Terziario. ...

The menhir, located at the intersection of three roads, is a stone structure of 170 cm high and a section of 70x50 cm. The megalith is situated at the end of a dry stone wall, in which a small chapel that gave it its name appears incorporated to it. The top of the menhir appears tapered to accommodate a stone base, probably a space designated for a cross.   The small chapel of the Spirito Santo, built in the seventeenth century, has a quadrangular structure with a simple facade and inside are two paintings depicting the Virgin Mary and St. Rocco. ...

The menhir della Croce, already cataloged by Cosimo De Giorgi at the beginning of 20th century, has been repeatedly demolished and replaced but is probably in its original position at the intersection of several roads, now protected by a stone fence .   It has a height of about 1.5 m and has three engraved crosses on the east side, while the other two are located on the west side. One of the crosses is hooked, the so-called Jerusalem cross. ...

The "Cliffs" itinerary unfolds along the Adriatic coast of Capo di Leuca, a spectacular landscape where the sea and the land almost collide along the coastline, that is high, rocky and dotted with caves and coves. But it is not only the natural landscape that renders the path interesting and magnificent : man has exploited, over the centuries, the tall structure and well-defended coast, building watchtowers that allowed the local population to defend the towns, the farms and the many religious sites which constituted a rich loot for pirates and raiders who crowded the Mediterranean. Major point of interest of the itinerary is the Parco Naturale Regionale “Costa Otranto” - Santa Maria di Leuca e Bosco di Tricase, characterized by numerous forests and especially by the ...