TOUR ITINERARIES
Discoveryng The Castles Of Puglia
page 1 of 2

LECCE

Our itinerary starts from Lecce, the capital of Baroque art.

 It is the chief town of the Salentine peninsula and it lays over a plain in the south-east of the heel of Italy.According to the tradition, Lecce was founded by Malennio, King of the Salentinians, a century before the war of Troia.

Some archaeologic findings, like Messapic graves, date the origins of Lecce back to ancient times. In the VIII cent. b.C., this city was a colony of the ancient Laconia (Sparta),whose inhabitants founded the city of Taranto.In the III cent. b.C. it was conquered by the Romans. They fortified it to denfend the town from the Macedonian invasion, and they called it Lupiae ( this name may explain why there is an image of a she-wolf as a symbol of the city). So, this place was not a “Municipium” anymore but, thanks to Marco Aurelio, it was turned into a colony. After the distancing of this site from the primitive centre (3km) the city was called Licea (or Litium). In the II cent. b.C. the commercial activity of Lecce was improving and so the Emperor Adriano ordered to build a road that connected Brindisi to Lecce and then Lecce to the sea.In the same time, they built a peculiar theatre (near S.Chiara church) and an amphitheatre, of which there are stately remains in the beautiful S.Oronzo square, gem of the old town centre. After the fall of the Roman Empire the city declined because of the Barbars’invasions and of the Byzantines’one. Then the egemony of Lecce deteriorated because Otranto became the most important dock of the Salento area. Things improved when the Normans arrived and the city became again an important commercial centre and a county and it was considered a privileged dwelling for nobles and kings. Also some monastic orders moved here at that time (the Benedectines) to fight against the cultural supremacy of Costantinopoli (so many convents and churches were built, like SS.Nicolò and Cataldo and S.Maria Cerrate). The Emperor Ottone IV destroyed it and then it was conquered by the Aragoneses.Thanks to Carlo V its urban structure was re-organized and it became the seat of Courts and suburban State offices.

To defend the city from the continuous Turks invasions that spread also all over the Salento coasts, Carlo V built a new wall and a powerful castle. This building stands in the middle of the town and it is divided into two trapezoidal structures that were realized in different periods; they have a yard in the centre. The external one was built by the militar architect Gian Giacomo dell’Acaja between 1539 and 1549. Carlo V had ordered its construction.

The castle has four bastions that originally kept the most ancient structure of the Middle Age.It had probably been built by King Tancredi at the end of the XII cent., but there are no remains of it because of the many revisions that took place over the centuries. The Angevin “mastio”(male) of the XIV cent. is the most ancient part of the building, and it is embellished by a chapel and a big hall on the upper floor. There are two entrances to the fortress: one from the north-west bastion that looks to the city and has a L plan and three defence doors; and the other one one from the opposite side, looking to the country. At the moment the castle is the seat of the Militar District of Lecce.The most luxurious period of Lecce was between the XVI and the XVIII centuries, when the famous “Baroque of Lecce” developed. This is why this city is also called a “Baroque Florence”.

LATIANO

Thirteen kilometres away from Francavilla Fontana, our itineary takes us to Latiano, a town known because of its characteristic and picturesque windmill and of its stately castle. This is the most ancient building of the town. It was built in the XII century with a strategic aim on the highest point of the town , near the ancient Via Appia.

In the origins it was surrounded by a ditch full of groundwater. The story of the fortification of the castle correspond with the town history.The nature of the castle water is considered the toponym of the word Latiano. It comes from the greek hara which means overflowing water, and from the latin latex, that is humour fount. As time went by, the castle was transformed from a fortalice into a private house. In 1724 it was restored by the Imperiali family. Latiano is also famous for its beautiful masserie, with closed yards and courtly buildings.

MESAGNE

Driving for only 8 km you can move from Latiano to Mesagne, a town over a little hill on the last strip of the Messapic plain. Mesagne old town centre is peculiar because of its triangular shape and there is the Granafei castle, a stately medieval building.

It was built in 1062 by Roberto il Guiscardo and the rebuilt twice: in 1256 by Manfredi, after the Saracens’ destruction, and then in the XV cent. by the Orsini del Balzo family. In the XVII cent., it became one of the dwellings of the Baron. All that is left since Medieval times is a squared tower. The loggia instead, was built in the XVI century.
 

next page»

« « « « « « « « « « BACK TO THE ITINERARIES « « « « « « « « « «