Ionian-Salentine coast

Puglia was for centuries a strategic province, colonized and invaded by every major power from the Greeks to the Spanish. The Baroque city of Lecce, often called the Athens of Puglia because of its beauty, is the legacy of the Spanish Hapsburgs. The ancient Greeks founded Magna Graecia in a string of settlements on the Ionian coast. Small coastal towns, breezy beaches and rocks falling steeply down to the sea, amid colours and heady perfumes. The coastal climate is temperate which prolongs the warmth of the spring and summer.This is a description of the Ionian-Salentine coast. Sometimes wild, this varied coastline is characterised by a blue crystalline sea.

The road from Otranto to Santa Maria di Leuca extends for fifty kilometres along the coast. The most eastern town of Italy, Otranto is certainly one of the most important cities of the Salento due to its historical and artistic conten,t for example the cathedral, the castle, Saint Peter’s Basilica, the ramparts and the charming historical centre. Protected by great walls, Gallipoli is one of the top tourist destinations in Apulia. Porto Cesareo is considered a corner of paradise in the Salento. Santa Maria di Leuca: here on the tip of the heel of Italy, the panorama is absolutely breathtaking. The caves of Zinzulusa in the sea near Castro are distinguished by magnificent limestone formations, an inspiring element of this gorgeous cave that was inhabited in prehistoric times. Behind the gulf of Taranto, city of the two seas, lies the ancient civilization of the Murgia delle gravine, stretching along the curve of a gulf in the form of an amphitheatre. Ancient houses, sanctuaries and stairways hidden between walls are all blended into the landscape, invisible to enemies and visitors of the past. Down through the years, rainwater flowing down to the valley from the Murgia, has carved out deep gulleys leaving dried-up river beds, known locally as “gravine”.

Strong torrential rainfall has ripped soil from the hills and deposited it on the open ground below, giving rise to swamps before continuing its course through the crevices in the rocks flowing into a network of underground streams. Massafra can be found in this Valley and is famous for the picturesque Sanctuary Madonna della Scala, made up of a long staircase, built in the beautiful scenery of the Ravines.