Here you’ ll find some tours of the towns where the concerts of the Festival of La Notte della Taranta take place. There are sixteen tours, one for each Municipality of the Grecìa Salentina (Calimera, Carpignano Salentino, Castrignano dei Greci, Corigliano d’Otranto, Cutrofiano, Martano, Martignano, Melpignano,Soleto, Sternatia and Zollino) plus the Municipalities of Otranto, Alessano, Galatina, Cursi and Andrano. The tours may be carried out by yourself or you may enjoy the tourist services of the different local boards, pointed out at the end of each tour. Moreover the package tours (i Luoghi della Taranta e Alla scoperta della Grecìa Salentina) (The Places of the Taranta, and A visit in the Grecìa Salentina) run by Tourist Front Office Salento Griko are available, (advance booking is necessary).

According to tradition the foundation of the the town of Alessano may be ascribed to Alessio I Comneno, a Byzantine emperor, but there are no documents casting light on the origins of the city. The Normans gave to Alessano a preminent role in the Capo of Leuca, that it preserved for a long time. In the 15th and the 16th centuries it had its golden age under the rule of important aristocrat ...

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Calimera (from Greek Good Morning or, most likely Beautiful Place because of the presence of a large holm-oak wood, bed water, ancient road network and rich soil) is quoted for the first time in Angevin books, but a recent evidence of Casa-museo della Civiltà Contadina e della Cultura Grika indicates habitual attendance three centuries before.
It is 15 km away from Lecce and h ...

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The origins of this small village are lost in the mists of time. The most impressive remains are two menhirs and the finding of a “grotto tomb” from Final Neolithic (the 3rd Millenium BC) in 2001. The presence of caves and natural depressions helped the development of human race, which is clear in the underground oil mills and in the rock churches, such as the crypt of S. Crist ...

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According to tradition it was founded by people coming from the East. It was inhabited by Byzantines during their stay in the Salento from the 6th to the 12th century, it was given in fee by King Tancredi to Pietro Indirmi in 1190. the old city centre has almost disappeared: only some narrow and winding streets among white houses and ancient square courts have been left over. ...

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Located in the middle of Salentine Peninsula, equidistant from the Adriatic and the Ionian seas Corigliano d’Otranto has traditions dating back to Greek and Latin origins and has acquired a tourist/cultural vocation. It’s all thanks to an increasing reappraisal of artistic heritage on its territory (first of all the purchase of the Castle by the Municipality) and a shrewd plann ...

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The town of Cursi has 4200 inhabitants, is 30 km far from Lecce, 18 km from Otranto and 3 km from Maglie. The soil on which Cursi lies is above all tufa, but Lecce stone is still largely used in building, to decorate villas and gardens, roofing and flooring, creation of bas-reliefs, statues and columns. Mining and working of Lecce stone is the main production of the town. According to historia ...

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Cutrofiano is the last Municipality that joined the Unione dei Comuni della Grecìa. In this town are worth seeing the Palazzo Ducale, a 17th century work by Francesco Manuli, rebuilt on the pre-existing Castle of Filomarini family, the magnificent Parish Church, dedicated to Maria SS. della Neve restored and extended from the sixteenth century and the Congrega dell’Immacolata, outstanding ...

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A centre of Greek tradition and culture it is in the immediate vicinity of the Grecìa Salentina. Its name comes from “Kali Athinà”, (the beautiful town of Ahens), according to tradition it was founded by Greek settlers, who dedicated it to Minerva, whose sacred animal was the owl. As a matter of fact the town crest is an owl surmounted by a baronial crown and crossed papal keys. The first detailed ...

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Martano, that was described as the centre of the Grecìa by Parlangeli, was inhabited since proto-historic age.
The Segla tu Demonìu (Specchia dei Mori, piles of stones), is located close to the SP. Martano-Caprarica, 500mt beyond the cemetery, on the brow of the Serra di Martignano. The Menhir de Santu Totaru, inside the town, dates back to prehistoric age. In the Middle Ages Martano was in ...

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It is the smallest Municipality among the Municipalities of the Grecìa Salentina, a charming example of a still vibrant and lively Greek nature, in which the signs of a culture and a spirituality strictly linked to the east survive. In the city centre is the eighteenth century Palazzo Palmieri in which Giuseppe Palmieri was born, one of the leading exponents of Enlightenment, that today is a Par ...

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As many towns of Grecìa Salentina, Melpignano too is worth a more exhaustive visit. In the last years its name has been linked to the Festival of La Notte della Taranta, but a walk through the narrow streets of the city centre shows that it has a long history and the beautiful architecture marks this small centre located on the sidelines of Terra d’Otranto. Its name probably derives from Melpinio ...

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The vibrant centre of the Byzantine and then Norman Salento, Otranto, the gateway to the Eastern world testifies its glorious and sometimes tragic past through the magnificence of its monuments, its misture of different cultures and civilizations. Enclosed within the mighty walls of the fifteenth century it keeps enchanting beauties: the Byzantine Basilica of S. Pietro, with frescoes on the walls, ...

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The first human traces date back to the Upper Paleolithic and to the Bronze Age. The first settlement dates back to the Messapian period. Soleto was a large centre with walls 3.300 m. long . It is placed in the middle of the Salento region and was the crossroads of two of the most important roads of the Salentine peninsula. In 2003 a piece of a broken blackpainted vase of the fifth century BC was ...

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This small centre of the Grecìa Salentina is placet in a natura basin surrounded by Serre and olive groves. According to tradition the town was created with the association of seven Roman villas built in a natural basin rich of water. It was a land of transit for Byzantines who left not only architectural ruins such as crypts and rural chapels, but also a linguistic and oral heritage that is still ...

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The origins of the small Greek-Salentine centre are uncertain. It was probably founded by the inhabitants of the disappeared centre of Apigliano or by people coming from the town of Soleto: both Municipalities have the sun as crest. In the area are some menhirs and other prehistoric remain, testifying the presence of primitive tribes just before the advent of the Messapian civilization. During the ...

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