Relais Masseria Le Cesine

Location: Otranto

Otranto is located on the adriatic coast of the peninsula of Salento. It is the most eastern municipality of Italy: the namesake cape, also called Punta Palascìa, that lies south of the inhabited centre, is the most eastern geographical point of the italian peninsula. At first it was a greek and roman centre, then a byzantine and aragonese centre, and it developed around its majestic castle and the norman cathedral. Archiepiscopal headquarter and important tourist centre, it gave its name to the Otranto Canal that separates Italy from Albania, and to Terra d'Otranto, ancient district of the Kingdom of Naples. In 2010, the ancient hamlet was acknowledged as UNESCO's world heritage, as Peace Messenger. It appears on the list "The most beautiful hamlets of Italy".

Places to Know and Visit

The Cathedral of the Annunziata, dedicated to Santa Maria Annunziata, was built under the norman domination but finished during the twelfth century. It rises on the remains of a messapian village, of a roman domus and of an early-christian temple; it was consacrated on the 1st August 1088 during the papacy of Urbano II. Renovated after the turkish raids of 1480, it preserves a medieval mosaic masterpiece. Realized between 1163 and 1165 and signed by the monk Pantaleone, the mosaic extends across the three naves, the transept and apse. In the mosaic, a majestic Tree of Life and themes from the Old Testament, the apocryphal gospels, chivalric cycles and a medieval bestiary are represented.

The Church of San Pietro is an important example of the byzantine art in Puglia. Built around the ninth/tenth century, it was probably the first basilica of the city, declared metropolis in 968. It has a square plan with greek cross and three small naves with a central cupola supported by four pillars. In the three apses there are frescos with byzantine style dated back to the tenth/sixteenth centuries.

The Church of Madonna Dell'Altomare, built in the seventeenth century, was rebuilt in 1744 as the epigraph on the facade testifies. Perched on a tuffaceous spur overlooking the sea, it is dedicated to the Holy Spirit. Inside, there is one only nave with the altar dedicated to the Virgin. All the decorations are inspired by the maritime tradition: the mosaic on the floor is decorated with a traditional maritime star at its centre, surrounded by Savoia knots or eight-shaped knots. Even the furnishings and the lighting are connected to maritime themes.

The Church of Santa Maria dei Martiri, with the annexed convent of San Francesco di Paola, was built in 1614 in place of a preexisting structure wanted by Alfonso d'Aragona, in memory of the awful massacre that took place there, when 800 inhabitants of Otranto died. The architectural structure of the church was built with a renaissance style, while the altars have a baroque style. Among the paintings, there is a big painting by Lavinio Zoppo, dated back to the second half of the sixteenth century, that represents the Otranto Massacre.

The Church of Santa Maria del Passo, located halfway between the city and Colle della Minerva, was built in memory of the 800 inhabitants of Otranto that were carried on the hill by the Turks to be slaughtered, in 1480. It is simple and austere, with a single rectangular-plan room with barrel vault characterized by an apse with the sixteenth-century image of the Virgin.

The Monastery of San Nicola di Casole, a few km south of Otranto, is one of the most important places of Salento from a historical, artistic and cultural point of view. The farmhouse was built in 1098 by Boemondo I d'Antiochia. Then, the settlement was donated to the basilian group guided by Giuseppe, who became its first abbot. Very active cultural centre, it preserved numerous greek and latin volumes for many centuries, and at the time it was one of the richest libraries of all Europe, destroyed in 1480 during the Turkish raids. Today, all that is left of this monastery are its ruins.

Palazzo Lopez was built during the spanish domination by the noble Lopez family. Its most ancient nucleus is the sixteenth-century house/tower next to which, in the seventeenth century, a factory was built to complete the manor house. Since 1992, as the monsignor Vincenzo Franco wanted, the building hosts the Diocesan Museum. Inside, it is possible to admire works of art and architectural elements from the Otranto Cathedral and the parish churches of the local diocese.

Palazzo de Mori, an ancient and noble manor with many floors and a stone patio. The wide terrace characterized by the ancient parapet of stone columns overlooks the sea, offering a suggestive view on the Otranto bay and the harbour. The famous arch under the terrace appears on many postcards and paintings. Palazzo de Mori is located on the bastions, in the ancient streets and alleys of Otranto's historical centre, a few steps away from the byzantine church of San Pietro, the Aragonese Castle and the Cathedral, famous for its wonderful mosaic.

The Aragonese Castle in Otranto was built by Alfonso d'Aragona between 1485 and 1498 and designed by Ciro Ciri with the help of Francesco di Giorgio Martini. At the time, in the Piazza Castello square, where the building is located, there were the fortifications of the Svevi with turkish improvements made in the 1480. Under the aragonese jurisdiction, the castle was sorrounded by a deep moat and Ciri decided to add three cylindrical angular fortified towers. Although the plan of the castle is pentagonal, it is rather irregular beacuse of the many renovations it underwent during the sixteenth century.

Coastal towers of the Salento. The coast of Otranto is full of defensive towers built in the sixteenth century by Carlo V to protect the territory from the saracene attacks. From north to south there are: Torre Fiumicelli, Torre Santo Stefano, Torre del Serpe, Torre dell'Orte, Torre Sant'Emiliano. In the past, there were also two other towers that was destroyed in the nineteenth century: Torre Palascìa and Torre Badisco.

Grotta dei Cervi is an important natural coastal grotto, in the Porto Badisco bay. Discovered in 1970, the cave has an incomparable archeological heritage: its ancient inhabitants left many pictorial testimonies, images of men, rituals, hunting scenes and animals. This graffiti were realized with a mixture of ochre and bat guano, and the importance of the place led to the permanent closure of the grotto. The archeological findings and fossils are the main attraction of the Museo Paleontologico l'Alca di Maglie.

"Laghetto di bauxite", south of Otranto, near the Orte bay. It is a bauxite extraction cave, a mineral from which aluminium is obtained. The bauxite, extracted for about twenty years during the 1960s/1970s, was carried on ships from the city harbour to Marghera, where it was processed. The cave was permanently abandoned in 1976 beacuse of the expensive extracting process. The presence of a phreatic layer, discovered during an excavation, determined the formation of a small lake.

Frassanito, locality with camp sites and a long sandy beach famous for being the meeting point of surfers, as the beach is free and has favorable winds. Torre Fiumicelli marks the border with the wide Alimini beach. It is characterized by high centuries-old dunes and it's exposed to the winds. There are many bathing establishments and hotels. The northern part of the beach is made of charcoal leftovers that colour the sand black.

The Baia dei Turchi is the place where, according to the legend, the turkish warriors landed during the Otranto siege in the fifteenth century. Sandy and uncontaminated, the bay is part of the protected oasis of the Alimini Lakes, one of the most important ecosystems of Salento and the entire Puglia. Then there are the small beach of the Porticeddhri and the Toraiello inlet.

The Santo Stefano Bay, located north of Otranto and east of Alimini Lakes. Above the bay there are the remains of the Santo Stefano Tower. The bay is rocky and slowly sloping down to the sea, with a small beach and a flourishing vegetation. Both the bay and the tower are located inside the territory of the tourist village "Le Cale di Otranto". In the village, located south of the Santo Stefano bay, there is also the so-called Rada de Carèula where there is a grotto. The coast becomes high and takes the name of Murrone, Baia Imperia until it reaches the Mulino d'Acqua: a very small beach characterized by the collapse of the grotto that offers wonderful trick of the light.