Location
Puglia & Salento | Lecce | Otranto
Otranto
Otranto is a fortified town overlooking the Adriatic. In the past it was the political, cultural and commercial centre of Salento which is sometimes referred to as “Terra d’Otranto” or the Land of Otranto.
It is a fascinating place; when I first visited Otranto in August 1995 I thought it was enchanting. Then, before Lecce was restored with EU money, Otranto was THE trendy place for young Leccesi to meet for an after dinner drink. Since then, the EU has restored buildings here too and Otranto has remained an attraction. There are lots of small cobbled alley ways and little nick-knack shops and bars to have a bite to eat and a leisurely drink; it is quite lovely.
The City of Otranto was of great importance throughout history as a communications link between the East and West Mediterranean.
There is evidence of many cultures from the time of the Greeks, the Roman Empire, the Byzantines, the Normans (in the Norman Cathedral founded 1080 you can see the largest mosaic in Europe) and the Turks.
There has been a castle at Otranto for centuries, but the construction that we see today is mainly as a result of the reconstruction in the 1700s of the existing fortifications which were not strong enough to hold back the 1480 Turkish invasion. 
