'Salento Cecilia Apartments' are located in the Southern Salento, next to the most beautiful beaches of the Ionian Coast and the rocky coast of the east side, on the Adriatic sea, characterized by many old fortifications.
Its location on the coast Gallipoli-Santa Maria di Leuca, allows reaching in a short time the beautiful city of Gallipoli, Santa Maria di Leuca, Otranto and Lecce.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The biggest resort is Otranto on the east coast, a grand fortified town important in Roman times but now dedicated solely to seaside fun. Otranto is much loved by Italians and in July and August it's seething with what must be the biggest and jolliest sea-side passeggiata in Italy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Down the coast from Otranto is Santa Cesarea Terme, a spa since Roman times. The spa today, open for treatments, is a huge 19th-century Moroccan-style edifice right on the seafront, painted in jaunty shades of blue, raspberry-pink and moss-green. South again are marvellous rocky caves and grottoes: Romanelli, Zinzulusa and Rontundella. The sea is clear azure and the area is famous for deep-sea diving.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you prefer cliff jumping to lying in the sun, you should check out Gagliano del Capo, located far south on the Adriatic. A tiny inlet, popular among locals, sneaks inside the otherwise sheer cliff coast. Highway SP358 actually crosses over the inlet on a bridge that affords striking views of the sea and those jumping into it. A stairway behind the bridge takes you down to the sea the gentle way. By contrast, the west side of Salento, from the tip at Santa Maria di Leuca up to Gallipoli and beyond, is a series of small and simple resorts like Torre Pali and Torre Giovanni, with clean white beaches.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
TOWN -
Salento's capital, Lecce, is a must. As well as the castle, the marvellous churches of Santa Croce and Chiesa del Rosario and the Palazzo Vescovile, there's a market on Mondays and Fridays around the central Piazza St Oronzo with local produce and ceramics and majolica from Grottaglie, the original home of terracotta.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gallipoli is an architectural gem. The old town is on an island, reached by an arched bridge which is flanked by a spectacular Graeco-Roman fountain. Reminiscent of Trieste, Gallipoli's buildings pick up a subtle reflected light from the sea in the sunsets.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the extreme south, towns get smaller and less visited. Check out Patù, Ugento, and Santa Maria di Leuca at the southern promontory (believed by Julius Caesar to be the last town in the world) and find your own back-street bar, and pleasant oblivion.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
FESTIVALS -
Every town and village has a yearly festa, so in summer there's a choice of several to attend every night.
Many involve old religious rites, like the carrying of a Virgin Mary statue around Lecce (August 24-6) or into the sea at Otranto (September 6). Others, like Novoli have bonfires and spectacular fireworks (January 16-17).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Almost all will include the pizzica , a fast and compelling rhythmic dance done to the accompaniment of the tambourine, accordion and violin. The atmosphere is pulsing, whether it's a modest village festa or the August event in Melpignano, which has international guest stars and attracts audiences of 15,000. Thousands of lights and torches create a carnival atmosphere. The pizzica band will start playing at 11pm and when the whole shebang gets going, you'd be pushed to match the spacey atmosphere at any nightclub.
This might be explained by pizzica's origins: though once associated with dancing out the poison of a spider-bite, the pizzica actually arrived in Salento from ancient Greece, its function being therapeutic. Women living hard and restricted lives would dance themselves through the night into a cathartic trance. The next day they would go to be blessed at the chapel of St Paul in Galatina - a pizzica and special mass is still held there every June.
