Galatina: what to see of one of the most beautiful jewels of Salento
A small jewel in the center of Salento. Galatina, at the gateway to Grecìa Salentina, has also been named by Forbes as one of the destinations to pin down for your trip to Southern Italy. Rich in history and culture, the town has been since the '500s the center of a Greek colony belonging to the county of Soleto.
Galatina is known as the town of the "tarantate," the women who danced to the rhythm of sounds and percussion to heal from the bite of the taranta.
Galatina is the birthplace of pasticciotto, the quintessential Salento dessert made of short pastry filled with custard and baked in the oven. A stop at the Ascalone pastry shop is a must to taste the typical dessert freshly baked directly from the person who created it.
But what immediately catches the eye when you reach Galatina's historic center is its historical and Baroque beauty. Not to be missed is the majestic Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria (14th century) among the most beautiful churches in Italy, declared a national monument in 1870. The architecture, in the Apulian-Romanesque style, blends Romanesque, Gothic and Byzantine, combining them with Norman influences. But what's really jaw-dropping about the basilica are its beautiful frescoes with pictorial cycles that include as many as 150 scenes.
Melpignano and the Night of the Taranta
Among the towns you absolutely must touch on your trip to Salento is definitely Melpignano.
In August, the town lights up with the Notte della Taranta the international folk music festival, among the biggest folk festivals in Europe, dedicated to the rediscovery and appreciation of traditional music from Salento and its fusion with other musical languages, from world music to rock, from jazz to symphonic music.
The final Concertone di Melpignano in the last editions has involved more than one hundred and fifty thousand spectators and has as a unique feature the presence of the Maestro Concertatore, usually an artist of international caliber who is invited to reinterpret the "classics" of the local musical tradition helped by a group of about thirty of the best traditional musicians of Salento, together with exceptional guests from the national and international scene.
Martano and Corigliano, cradle of griko
Among the places in Grecìa Salentina that have the strongest link with the Griko language are Martano and Corigliano d'Otranto.
Martano is a village rich in history, with its castle positioned right in the center of the town and surrounded by courtyard houses and noble palaces, such as the Andrichi and Moschettini palaces. Within a territory to be discovered, there is also the highest monolith in Apulia, the Theophilus Menhir.
A short distance from Martano we then find Corigliano d'Otranto and its famous Castello de' Monti, which houses among others the Multimedia Museum of Salentinian Greece. The beautiful 16th-century monument deserves a thorough visit. With its medieval layout, surrounded by a moat at the corners of which stand four majestic circular towers. In the summer, the castle hosts many initiatives related to art, culture and music for which thousands of visitors flock here every year, enlivening this setting with new life. The whole village is a little gem to visit by getting lost in the narrow streets of the historic center that hide glimpses of authentic beauty.
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Enclosed in the heart of Salento is another even more unique and special one where folklore, language and traditions come together