If you are here on holiday in the summer, but you are not satisfied only with the beach and the sea or if you have chosen Salento as a destination for a short holiday in Springtime or Autumn, we have created this small guide to show youthe things to see in two days in the hinterland of Salento for your weekend in Puglia.
Located between the two seas, Salento does not only mean sunny beaches and an intense blue sea, Salento is also a land of ancient historical evidence, with mainly Baroque architecture and a delicious food and wine tradition.
DAY 1
LECCE – A walk in the old town will allow you to appreciate the beauty of the city, symbol of the Baroque. The churches, the monuments and the architectural style of the buildings are an embroidery that adorns the urban spaces. Piazza Sant’Oronzo is the beating heart of the city, where you can admire the “Sedile” and the column that holds the statue of the Patron Saint who gives the square its name. From here continue to the vault of the Basilica of Santa Croce: you will be enchanted by the facade with the largest rose window in the world.
After walking all along Corso Vittorio Emanuele II you will reach Piazza Duomo. During the day, stop in the numerous artisan shops that dot the narrow streets of the old town to buy souvenirs and other typical items. For lunch and dinner, let yourself be pampered by the delicacies of the local cuisine: from “rustico” to seafood; from pasticciotto to the traditional first courses.
DAY 2
GRECìA SALENTINA – For the second day to spend in the hinterland, we recommend a tour in a small patch of land with ancient traditions, which still retains traces of its origins in the language. In fact, there are seven municipalities where “griko” is spoken, a local dialect strongly contaminated by Greek, and they are: Martano, Melpignano, Carpignano Salentino, Martignano, Corigliano d’Otranto, Sternatìa, Calimera and Castrignano de ’Greci.
We choose Martano and Melpignano as examples of our tour, but you can move between all the other towns in the area within a few kilometers.
Martano has a charming old town with alleys, squares and courtyard houses. The palaces from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century are beautiful, including the Baronial one, once the Aragonese Castle, the Maria SS. Assunta, the former Dominican Convent, seat of the Town Hall and the seventeenth-century Cistercian Monastery of Santa Maria della Consolazione with the library and the distillery.
Melpignano is mainly known for the La Notte della Taranta Concert, which takes place every year at the end of August in the square in front of the Augustinian Convent, a jewel of late 18th century Baroque architecture. Do not miss a visit to the Historical Museum of Tarantism, the first in the world inaugurated in 2020 inside the Marchesale Palace with historic garden: a hundred works, some very rare, including books, engravings and objects.
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
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