Our resort is located in Alezio, an industrious village of Salento, rich in history, culture, traditions and located just a few minutes from the beautiful Ionian Sea.
Places to visit
• Santuario Santa Maria della Lizza: the monumental Sanctuary named after the patroness of Alezio, Our Lady of the Assumption, better known as “Madonna della Lizza”, lying on a hill from where it is possible to dominate a wide horizon.
• Chiesa Santa Maria Addolorata (Church of Our Lady of Sorrows): dating back to 1838, designed by architect Lorenzo Turco. It was completed in 1875 and stands on the foundations of an ancient building dating back to the 12th century.
• Civic Messapian Museum: together with the Municipal Library, it is located in Palazzo Tafuri, a splendid eighteenth-century residence with an almost octagonal shape. In 1982 various archaeological finds were found in the modern town, so it was decided to establish the Civic Messapian Museum, in front of which it is possible to see a Messapian archaeological Park, with various types of tombs dating from the 6th to the 2nd century BC. The museum also offers a varied series of museum activities based on age groups.
Telephone 333/3661223
Email f.congedo@akraiapygia.eu| https://www.facebook.com/pg/MuseoAlezio/about/?ref=page_internal
• Necropolis of Monte d’Elia: discovered in 1981, the Messapian necropolis of the ancient city of Alytia. Since then, discoveries of important epigraphs and tombs have followed one another. The three oldest epigraphs date back to the 6th century BC.
• Trappito Stracca (Stracca oil mill): the structure is a beautiful example of rural building in Alezio countryside, composed of a 17th century building overlooking a splendid 14th century underground oil mill. Today it is an educational farm, open to schools and rural tourism, with illustration of the ancient and modern processing cycles of oil, wine and wheat.
http://www.mulinovecchio.it/il-trappito/
A few minutes from Alezio there is the famous “Pearl of the Ionian Sea” Gallipoli, a city rich in culture and tourist attractions.
Gallipoli, washed by the Ionian Sea, lies on the western coast of the Salentinian peninsula, in the Gulf of Taranto. A peculiarity is the division of the town into two well-defined areas: the “old town” and the “new town”. The charming old town, rich in ancient buildings and frescoes, stands on a limestone island connected to the mainland by a masonry bridge. After crossing the bridge, we are immediately in front of the last bastion of an ancient past, the Graeco-Roman fountain, the oldest in Italy. You enter the “new village” where the passage to modernity is drastically represented by the “Skyscraper”, situated at the entrance of Corso Roma, the central street that splits the new city into two sections, called “scirocco” and “tramontana”.
Hold in due consideration:
– in the month of February Gallipoli’s Carnival and its allegorical carts;
– the characteristic rites of the Holy Week, ending with the Holy Easter and the first dives into the crystal-clear sea on Easter Monday.
https://www.gallipolivirtuale.it
Places to visit
• Angevin Castle: dating back to the 13th century, it was built during the Angevin rule and subsequently subjected to modifications and renovations until the 17th century.
It is almost completely surrounded by the sea and is located near the bridge connecting the old town of Gallipoli with the new city.
https://it-it.facebook.com/castellogallipoli/
• Basilica Cathedral of Sant’Agata: “[..] the pride of a local architect, G. Bernardino Genuino, it is a colossal work of art, living history of the City written on stone [..]” http://www.cattedralegallipoli.it
• Church of Purità: located in the old town of Gallipoli right in front of the historic Seno della Purità beach, a casket of works of art.
http://www.chiesapurita.org
• Granafei Hypogeal Oil Mill: located in the basement of Granafei Palace, among the narrow alleys of the old town, it is one of the 35 hypogeal oil mills of the 1600s and it can be visited. It was completely renovated and extends underground for about 200 square meters.
• Church of Santa Maria del Canneto: it is a jewel of Baroque architecture, enriched inside by valuable paintings.
• Sant’Andrea Island: together with the coastline of Punta Pizzo, it is part of the Natural Park of Gallipoli. Rabbits, birds, invertebrates, insects and over 200 species of plants live there, but the most important presence on the island is represented by a nesting colony of the very rare Gabbiano Corso, inserted in the red list of the species at risk of extinction.
• Beaches: Baia Verde, Punta della Suina, Lido Conchiglie, Rivabella, Torre Pizzo.
In the nearby hinterland we can find a lot of small countries rich in culture and traditions. Worth of note:
• Tuglie: Museum of the Radio, located in an underground oil mill.
• Parabita: Angevin Castle and Basilica of Santa Maria della Coltura
• Sannicola: the beaches of Le Canne and Padula Bianca and the characteristic Monastery of San Mauro
• Galatina: charming historic centre, from the Chapel of St. Paul to the Basilica of Saint Catherine of Alexandria.
• Nardò: historic centre to go through to admire a blaze of baroque and rococo.
• Copertino: the city of San Giuseppe, the flying saint; the Church dedicated to him, his native house, the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Grottella and the Angevin Castle.
With less than an hour’s drive you can reach famous locations:
• Lecce: a city rich in culture and too many things to see from Piazza Sant’Oronzo, the Sigismondo Castromediano Provincial Museum, the Archaeological Historical Museum (MUSA), the magnificent Old Town and its churches, the Amphitheatre and the Roman Theatre, the Sedile, the Church of Santa Croce, the Palazzo dei Celestini, the Church of Sant’Irene, the Duomo, Porta Rudiae and Porta Napoli, all near one another and reachable directly on foot and the Castle of Charles V.
• Otranto: a fortified town whose ancient village is enclosed in the defensive walls that can be passed through Porta Alfonsina. Inside: the Aragonese Castle, an imposing ancient military fortress, today a splendid theatre for exhibitions and cultural events (castelloaragoneseotranto.it), the Cathedral of Santa Maria Annunziata with its splendid floor mosaic depicting the Tree of Life and the Chapel of the Martyrs, which preserves the remains of 800 faithful Christians massacred for not renouncing their faith during the Turkish invasion; the small church of San Pietro, the oldest church in Otranto characterized by Byzantine architecture. Smaller but equally interesting churches are: Church of Santa Maria dei Martiri, Church of Santa Maria del Passo and Church of the Madonna dell’Alto Mare.
Otranto is not only this; from its sea to the naturalistic sets: northward Baia dei Turchi, the Alimini Lakes, Torre Sant’Andrea and Torre dell’Orso; southward Baia di Orte, Porto Badisco with its Grotta dei Cervi and Santa Cesarea Terme.
• Leuca, placed at the extreme heel of Italy, marks the evocative meeting place between the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Sea; it houses an imposing octagonal lighthouse and the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Finibus Terrae.
• Castro: stands on a rocky ridge, with a spectacular natural landscape. Not suitable for people looking for beaches but for those who want to visit the splendid Grotta della Zinzulusa.