Ugento (1)

Ugento Castle is one of the most imposing castles in the Otranto area. Situated on the top of a hill, it dominated and protected the lands and town that spread out in its shadow. It was built on Messapic remains and probably rebuilt in Roman times. The circular tower dates back to the Normans, who dominated the region from 1059. The characteristic tower embankment will be familiar to anyone who has seen the Bayeux Tapestry in Normandy. The castle was destroyed and rebuilt in wartime, then extended and modified during periods of peace. In 1643 it was purchased by the Marquis d'Amore, and has belonged to the d'Amore family ever since. In recent years, painstaking renovations have gradually restored the ruined castle to its former glory as a gilded palace.

The cathedral is dedicated to Maria Santissima Assunta in Cielo (Mary Most Holy Assumed into Heaven), bishopric of the diocese of Ugento-Santa Maria di Leuca. Construction of the church began in 1700 on the ashes of the ancient Gothic cathedral, destroyed by Turkish raids in 1537. Consecrated and opened for worship in 1745, it consists of a single nave. Its neoclassical facade was built at the behest of Bishop Monsignor Francesco Bruni in 1885, and consists of a tympanum supported by four columns with Ionic capitals. The interior of the cathedral is in the shape of a Latin cross. In the center of the chancel is the high altar, made, like the balustrade, of polychrome marble bearing the coat of arms of Monsignor Arcangelo Maria Ciccarelli. On the apse is placed a large painting depicting the Assumption of Mary into Heaven surrounded by the most venerated saints in Ugento, a 1944 work by painter Corrado Mezzana. Behind the altar is a large choir made of olive wood in the Rococo style. The entire chancel area in 1976 was adapted to the new provisions of the Second Vatican Council.

In the area north of the town, overlooking the countryside, stand the remains of the mighty Messapic walls. A 9-kilometer-long, 8-meter-thick defensive circuit, built with large squared boulders in the 4th century BC. The wall, equipped with about 90 towers, testifies to the turbulent climate in Apulia between the 5th and 3rd centuries B.C. following the arrival of foreign invaders. In Piazza Italia and at the corner of Via Acquarelli and Via Trieste, it is possible to see what remains of this ancient defensive work. Ozan was one of the bulwarks of the "dodecapoli messapica," a powerful federation that with the presence of fortress-cities, a short distance from each other, prevented Greek settlers from penetrating into the Salento territory to found new settlements.

The Ugento Museum System was established in 2011, with a concession of services stipulated between the Municipality and the Archaeological Consulting Firm, in order to promote an integrated management path of the territory's Cultural Heritage. It includes the New Archaeological Museum, the "Adolfo Colosso" Archaeological Collection, the Monumental Complex of the Crypt of the Crucifix and the Chiesa della Madonna di Costantinopoli (Church of Our Lady of Constantinople). The New Archaeological Museum, opened in 2009, is located in the S. Maria della Pietà convent complex of the Friars Minor Observant. The exhibits tell of the glorious past of Ugento, the ancient Messapian city of Ozan, one of the most important centers in the control of present-day Salento. The exhibition is divided into chronological and thematic sections, including those devoted to the Tomb of the Athlete and the Ugento necropolis, the cults of Messapia and coins. The "Adolfo Colosso" Archaeological Collection, housed inside the palace of the same name on Via Messapica, has about 794 artifacts dating from the 7th century B.C. to the early medieval period. Prominent in the collection are the famous Messapian trozzelle and a Doric capital, similar to the one on which was placed the famous bronze statue of Zeus of Ugento, now preserved in Taranto. The walls and ceiling of the Crypt of the Crucifix, a small 10th-century rock church, are frescoed with an interesting Byzantine-era pictorial cycle. Near the hypogeum is the small Church of Our Lady of Constantinople, incorporated into a 17th-century farm structure.

A wide variety of trekking routes between countryside and coastal areas, immersed in the wildest and most unspoiled views, far from the summer confusion, gives the visitor an authentic contact with nature and tranquility. The upper part of the Ugento coast, in fact, is characterized by numerous reservoirs surrounded by areas, sometimes very large, pervaded by the most rugged Mediterranean scrub. You will be enchanted by the rural landscape, dotted with olive trees and vineyards, surrounded by low hills of rocks and red earth. These areas are grouped together and known as the Valley of the Armeculi and the Gravine of Ugento. Bring along some long, cool pants to shelter from insects and plants, and closed walking shoes for an open-air stroll through the various paths, discovering the most authentic and unspoiled flora and fauna of the Mediterranean scrub and its characteristic scents.

The Salento track is an international kart circuit in Ugento, on the Torre San Giovanni coast road. 1400 meters of straights and curves, for racing in single and two-seater karts and participating in amateur races. It is the longest kart track in Salento, highly technical, challenging and fully lit.

Scattered, like sentinels, along the Ionian and Adriatic coasts, in the 1500s they were used to spot enemy raids. Among the most important: Torre Sabea, Torre Suda, Torre S. Giovanni, Torre Mozza. A defensive function also had the fortified farms, almost fairy-tale constructions that appear unexpectedly in the eyes of the traveler crossing the Salento countryside. They represent true monuments of rural architecture and an expression of Salento's peasant civilization. Among the most interesting is Masseria Pali in Ugento. Immersed in the contrasting colors of green and earth, the trulli buildings, used in the past by local farmers as temporary or daily dwellings or shelters, do not go unnoticed.