Beautiful places to visit in Salento: a short list of peculiar arts towns.
Alessano
It is the birthplace of Don Tonino Bello, a great man of peace, bishop of Molfetta, national president of Pax Christi. We suggest that you visit the places that concern him, such as the tomb where he currently rests, the house where he was born in 1935 and the annexed Marian international museum of art and the Scuola della Pace (School of Peace). The historical centre has a medieval layout and is scattered with courtyard houses, Renaissance palaces, Baroque balconies and decorated portals. Just outside the town, you can visit the ancient rocky village of Macurano, dug in the rock.
Copertino
In the town of San Giuseppe (St. Joseph, the flying Saint) you can visit the church built in his honour, the house where he was born and the sanctuary of Santa Maria della Grottella (St. Mary of the Cave). Inside the collegiate church of Santa Maria della Neve (St. Mary of the snow), which became Pontifical Minor Basilica in 2011, you can admire the valuable Deposition by the mannerist Gianserio Strafella. He also decorated the Chapel of San Marco (St. Mark) in the Angevin Castle, which is surrounded by a large moat and has 4 angular bastions and a beautiful portal that embodies the styles of Catalonia and Durrës. In 2014, vineyards were planted on the bastions: 100 vines of Negroamaro Cannellino.
An area scattered with beautiful places to visit in Salento: a holiday paradise
Galatina
It is known as the town of the Taranta (which is a folk dance). The chapel of S. Paolo (St. Paul) is dedicated to the rite of this dance. You can start the tour from Piazza S. Pietro and admire the imposing front of the Mother Church, in Baroque style. Go then to the historic centre and reach the Basilica of Santa Caterina d’Alessandria (St. Catherine of Alexandria), in Romanesque-Gothic style, with an extraordinary rose window in the façade and Giotto-school frescoes that totally cover the 5 aisles.
Galatone
Visit the sixteenth-century parish church of Maria SS. Assunta (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary), with its Baroque façade, the sanctuary of SS. Crocifisso della Pietà (Holy Crucifix of Pity), the Torre Quadrata (the Square Tower; fourteenth/fifteenth century), the Palazzo Marchesale (the Marquis Palace) and the Convent of the Dominicans, used today as town hall.
Nardò
Walk without destination among Baroque palaces and balconies, magnificent churches and courtyards. Piazza Salandra is a concrete expression of the Baroque and Rococo styles: the intricate work of the Guglia dell’Immacolata (the Spire of the Immaculate Virgin), the church of S. Trifone (St. Tryphon), the Sedile (the ancient palace of the Mayor), the Prefecture Palace, the Fontana del Toro (the Fountain of the Bull). In close proximity, there are the Duomo with the black Crucifix of the thirteenth century, the municipal theatre and the castle of the Acquaviva family, used today as town hall.
Stay tuned, because we are going to talk about other arts towns and beautiful places to visit in Salento in the next few posts!