A tour between Galatina and Gallipoli!

Galatina , known before the unification of Italy as San Pietro in Galatina, is a town and comune in the Province of Lecce in Apulia, southern Italy. It is situated about 21 kilometres (13 mi) south of the city of Lecce. The main sights are: the late Romanesque church of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria, built in 1390 by Raimondello del Balzo Orsini, count of Soleto, with a fine portal and rose window. The interior contains frescoes by Francesco d'Arezzo (1435). The apse contains the fine mausoleum of the son of the founder, a canopy supported by four columns, with his statue beneath it; the Baroque church of San Pietro (also known as Mother Church), rebuilt from 1633 on a previous Greek-rite edifice. the Pupa, a fountain in local limestone

UNESCO site: S. Caterina d'Alessandria cathedral! Tradition has it that the building was founded between 1369 and 1391, by the will of Raimondello Orsini del Balzo, but according to some scholars it is the result of an extension or at least a transformation of an existing plant with two bays1both for the rather anachronistic portal morphology for the second half of the fourteenth century, and for the same morphology of the capitals placed on the polytilic pillars of the first three bays of the central hall. But it would seem that this is also demonstrated by the fresco of the 'Madonna della Mela' commissioned by the Toucy family, namely Lucia d'Altavilla, Countess of Soleto in the years before 1299. The suspicion that a portion of the present façade can be traced back to that date cannot be dismissed at all2. The date affixed to the lintel of the left portal in capital letters not relevant for the period therefore loses credibility3. But it is more probable that it was founded by his uncle Raimondo del Balzo who became count of Soleto from 13194. However, tradition attributes the entire operation to his nephew Raimondello who on one of his many journeys, returning from the Crusades, went up to the top of Mount Sinai to pay homage to the body of Saint Catherine; according to legend, in leaving, kissed the saint’s hand, tearing her finger with her teeth. Back in Italy he brought with him the relic that, set in a silver reliquary, is still preserved in the church treasury. The building, on Raimondello’s death in 1405, was completed by his wife, Princess Maria d'Enghien, and then by his son, Giovanni Antonio Orsini Del Balzo.
The building was built on a pre-existing Byzantine church of Greek rite dating from the ninth-tenth century whose traces are clearly visible in the outer wall of the right aisle where the apse was incorporated, perhaps to save building material, the apse.

Pray time! Formerly called Santa Caterina Novella, the Church of San Biagio is linked to the presence on the territory of the monastic order of the Olivetani, called Bianchini by the Galatians because of the characteristic white dress. The beginning of the construction of the monastery and the first church dates back to 1507. The factory of the new sacred complex, very expensive, lasted for about 130 years on an initial project then resumed and updated in 1612 by Marcello da Lecce and Pietro Antonio Pugliese da Galatina. According to the historian Secundo Lancellotto (early seventeenth century) among all the Olivetan monasteries this was the most illustrious for temporal and spiritual goods. The majesty of the temple, built on a small elevation north of the city, attests to a great feeling typical of the time; while relations with civil institutions were characterized by a frequent state of tension. The church in 1892 was entrusted to the care of a newly born Brotherhood of S. Biagio and the priest Can. D. Pietro Sabella (+15 April 1901), first rector of this sacred place that the Galatians began to call with the title S. Biagio next to the popular one of the Bianchini. During the Great War and the Second World War it was used as accommodation for the troops and as storage for their food (traces of this emerged during the restoration of 2004/05). A notable contribution to the rebirth of the Church was given in the first half of the 1900s by the Confraternity of the Holy Family which, in a period of crisis of the Confraternity S.Biagio, moved (1930s) from the Basilica of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria to San Biagio where he still resides.

Historic patisserie of Galatina with period furnishings and a magical atmosphere.

I suggest to move now to Gallipoli, where you could have a great rest in the last part of the day! Gallipoli is an Italian town in the province of Lecce in Puglia.
The town, bishop’s seat since the sixth century, is located along the west coast of Salento, overlooking the Ionian Sea. The city is divided into two distinct zones: the old town, which stands on an island of limestone nature and has a circuit of about 1.5 km, and the new village, connected to the island by a brick bridge dating back to the seventeenth century, as a result of which construction has gradually formed the new village that now extends over an area greater than that of the entire island. To the west of Gallipoli lie the island of Campo, the islet called de "Li picciuni" and the island of Sant'Andrea which, completely flat, extends for about 50 hectares.
Gallipoli is the capital of the district from 1860 to 1927. In 2015 the city presided over the Permanent Conference of the Historical Cities of the Mediterranean.

You will sleep here today!

The castle of Gallipoli, surrounded almost completely by the sea, stands with its imposing mass at the eastern end of the island that houses the ancient village. Built, most likely, since the eleventh century on pre-existing Roman fortifications, it was rebuilt in the thirteenth century in Byzantine times. It was repeatedly altered by the conquerors who followed one another over the centuries. You're a royal now!

The heart of Gallipoli is here, in the Old Town, the place where the past can be found around every corner and where architectural beauties are revealed in the eyes of the observer.
It is located on an island dominated by the Angevin Castle, which can be reached via a seventeenth-century bridge, the Ancient Bridge: it is he who connects the new city on the mainland to the old city.
Crossing the bridge is like leaving the present to take a dip in the past. In the heart of Gallipoli, made of winding streets, architecture and sea that glances around every corner, you can get lost and make a unique journey.

The beach of purity is one of the beaches of Gallipoli completely free, is located in a characteristic area of the city and is surrounded by legends and history. The name "purity" comes from some legends related to the Virgin of Sant'Agata, patron saint of Gallipoli: it is said that a mother found her son intent on taking milk from a breast belonging to the Virgin inexplicably arrived on the coast or that the child intent on sucking from a breast stopped only when the name of the Saint was pronounced, This is why the beach is also called "Bosom of Purity".
The beach was already appreciated since the nineteenth century when the Gallipoli frequented, especially on Sundays, as a meeting place. In the sixties of the '900 instead begins to assume importance in tourism, this is found in the fact that they were built stilts with some stairs leading directly to the sea called "li cammerini", for the exclusive use of foreign tourists so that they could have a privileged entrance compared to others.
Also in the sixties the first group of sailors was formed, then became the Circle of Sailing of Gallipoli, and it is precisely for this reason that it is still known as a meeting point for lovers of sailing.

Martinucci! One of the most famous Salento pastries laboratory!

The second restaurant where you can eat the dishes of Gallipoli!

Goodnight!