A visit here lends a whole new flavour to any holiday in Leuca
The sun is shining on the Montirò Hotel in Santa Maria di Leuca and lighting up the Salento spring with its almond trees in bloom and the blue-green sea. What better time for a trip to see the Leuca lighthouse!
The lighthouse can be visted by taking a boat trip, or accessed by land providing you book in advance. This lighthouse at Punta Meliso was designed by the engineer Achille Rossi and was first operational in 1866. The lamp emits three different beams of light that, on a clear night, are visible up to 40 kilometres away. Currently operated by the Marine Police, the lighthouse contains a spiral staircase that has no fewer than two hundred and fifty steps up to the top. From its viewing station you get breathtaking views of Santa Maria di Leuca, the marina, and the elegant, white basilica in the background. Enjoy the wind, greet the gulls and boats, stare out across the horizon … and, of course, you can look at yourself in the lamp’s giant mirrors!
All the world’s literature holds a fascination for lighthouses and many artists have painted them over the centuries, often portraying as metaphors of man defying life’s storms. The Leuca lighthouse, at almost 50 metres high and with its elegant white exterior, gives you spectacular views across the sea and the city, especially at sunset, when the church and the waves get tinged in a thousand shades of red.
The lighthouse has been guiding ships to safety for two centuries and is an ideal destination for a boat trip off Leuca, where you get to admire all the beauty of the Salento coast, the Basilica of Finibus Terrae and the Mediterranean scrub.