The
SALENTINE PENINSULA insinuates itself deeply between
two seas, the Ionian and the Adriatic sea, as far
as the extreme southern point of Leuca, also called,
for its position, “finibus terrae”, with
its famous Sanctuary, likely built up on the rests
of an ancient temple dedicated to Minerva. Extraordinarily,
from Salentine coasts we can observe either the sun
rising from the waters of the Adriatic, or the sunset
into those ones of the Ionian
Lecce, the noble capital of this land, had its period
of greater splendor between the XVI and XVII centuries,
during which it became rich in magnificent Renaissance
and Baroque monuments, and for this reason it is called
the “ Florence of the Baroque”.
Along the Ionian coast there are beautiful and suggestive
landscapes. Then the rocks are replaced by long beaches
marked with ancient watch towers ( of the ‘500).
Going
on southwards, the Adriatic coast rises and opens
in wonderful places: Torre Dell’Orso is
a beach with a very thin sand, behind which there
is a pine-wood; the two small lakes and the very
long beach of Alimini appear unusual and characteristic
at the same time in the landscapes dominated by
the olive and the almond trees. And here we are
in Otranto which can’t be only defined “the
door of the east”, but also a “real
piece of the East” with its white Cathedral
famous for the seven great glass show-cases containing
the bones of the Holy Martyrs, murdered in 1480,
and for the floor’s mosaic “the tree
of Life”.
