Otranto

Otranto is the last city in Italy heading east. The point where the peninsula ends and the Mediterranean begins. This makes it different from all the other cities of Salento: more layered, heavier with history, more conscious of the weight of what it has been through. Otranto is one of the jewels of Salento, a gem set into the Adriatic coast of Puglia. This ancient village is a true treasure, with its narrow and winding streets, its historic buildings and the magnificent Cathedral of Santa Maria Annunziata.

The Cathedral of Otranto, a three-nave building with 14 granite columns surmounted by Romanesque capitals, is a monument of Pugliese Romanesque, consecrated in 1088. Inside is a masterpiece of medieval art: a mosaic floor from 1163–1165 depicting a magnificent Tree of Life. The cathedral also houses the relics of the Saints Martyrs of Otranto. The mosaic is one of the most extraordinary things to be seen in the South: a medieval encyclopaedia painted on the floor, with figures of animals, kings, prophets and fantastic creatures. It must be seen with calm, in silence, preferably early in the morning.

The Aragonese Castle of Otranto was built in the fifteenth century to protect the city from Turkish attacks and has recently been restored. In Piazza Castello, the pentagonal Aragonese castle with three circular towers and three angular towers. Above the entrance is the imperial coat of arms of Charles V. From its bastions you can admire the port and the entire Otranto Channel. It is also the site of the exhibition on the Grotta dei Cervi at Porto Badisco.

Otranto carries with it the memory of 1480, when the Ottoman Turks besieged and took the city, executing 800 inhabitants who refused to renounce the Christian faith. Their remains are kept in the Cathedral. It is a story the city has not forgotten and that you can still feel in the air of its streets.

Otranto is not only its old town. A few kilometres away you will find some of the most beautiful beaches on the Adriatic Salento: Baia dei Turchi, Torre dell'Orso, Porto Badisco. Crystal-clear sea, rocky seabeds, hidden coves.