Let's go South: S. Maria di Leuca and Otranto!

Santa Maria di Leuca is famous for its iconic lighthouse. With its height of 47 metres, and position at 102 metres above sea level, is the second most important lighthouse in Italy, after Genova. Next to the lighthouse is the large Sanctuary, or Basilica, De Finibus Terrae ("End of the Land", 1720-1755), built to commemorate the passage of St. Peter here during his travel to Italy. It is devoted to Saint Mary (from whom the town gets the name Santa Maria di Leuca). It lies on the former site of a Greek temple dedicated to Athena. The edifice has a fortified structure, and during its existence it sustained several assaults by Algerian pirates. In the same site, a Corinthian column was erected in 1939 to celebrate the construction of the Apulian Aqueduct (Acquedotto Pugliese). The basilica is connected to the port through a 284-step staircase.
Panorama Punta Meliso promontory (the ancient Promontorium lapygium or Sallentinum) is the southeastern extremity of Italy — traditionally considered the lowest point of the geographical "heel" of Italian peninsula, as well as the meeting point of the waters from the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea. But Leuca is a bay so there's another promontory called Punta Ristola challenging this geographical particularity. According to Google Earth, Punta Ristola, at 39° 47′ 22.96″ N, is approximately 440 meters south of Punta Meliso, at 39° 47′ 37.73″ N.
After World War II the town hosted Jewish Holocaust survivors for two years (1946-1948), giving them warm hospitality.
Since October 2006 its territory is part of the Regional Park "Costa Otranto - Santa Maria di Leuca e Bosco di Tricase". Santa Maria di Leuca's littoral is marked by numerous grottoes with Latin and Greek inscriptions. Also famous are the 19th century patrician villas (c. 43 in number).
Not far off Punta Ristola, at c. 85 m of depth, lies the shipwreck of the Italian submarine Pietro Micca, sunk during World War II with its crew of 58 men.

The first church was built at the dawn of Christianity, on the ruins of a pagan temple dedicated to the Goddess Minerva. Due to its geographical position, the Sanctuary was subject to continuous destruction and looting by the Turks and Saracens. The current building is the sixth and was built in 1700. Along with the Sanctuary were built the attached buildings to offer hospitality to the faithful. The interior is a Latin cross with baroque decorations. The visitor’s attention is focused on the high altar, in fine marble with the painting of the Madonna by the painter Giacomo Palma Junior. From the numerous tombstones, mostly in Latin, it reconstructs the history and events of the church in the centuries from 1 August 343. The Church of San Marino. Since 7 October 1990 the Sanctuary of Leuca has been elevated to the rank of Minor Basilica.