With more than 3600 inhabitants, Carpignano Salentino is part of the territory of Grecìa Salentina which still retains the ancient dialect known as grìko. About 25 km from Lecce, the town is about ten minutes from the Adriatic coast, whose nearest seaside resort is Sant’Andrea.
Inhabited since ancient times, Carpignano Salentino preserves the ancient testimonies thanks to the presence of some menhirs: the Grassi menhir and the Croce Grande or Staurotomèa menhir (in Greek Σταυροτομέα).
From Piazza Duca d’Aosta you enter the alleys and discover the ancient Giudecca enclosed by medieval walls with hanging gardens, 15th century houses, sixteenth-century balconies, the Mother Church and the Ducal Palace. To visit is the underground oil mill and the crypt of S. Cristina from the IX-X century, a masterpiece with ancient frescoes and inscriptions in Greek.
The name of the town derives from that of the Roman centurion Carpinius, but the thesis of a Messapian derivation of the root karp (“stone”, “rock”), for which Carpignano would mean “place placed on a hill”, is equally credited.
If you don’t know where to sleep in Salento, here you will find some useful advice.
holiday houses -> www.casesalento.com
Holiday luxury villas -> www.villesalento.it
email -> info@villesalento.it
Mobile Phones -> (+39) 366/2604050 – (+39) 392/0202233
1 Comment