Otranto (Utràntu in local dialect, Derentò in greek Salento, Ὑδροῦς in greek classic, Hydruntum in Latin) is located on the Adriatic coast of the Salento peninsula, is the easternmost town in Italy.

Capo Palascìa or Capo d' Otranto, located in the town of Otranto, is the most eastern point of Italy. According to the nautical conventions, this place is the point of separation between the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Sea.

The coast, which extends for about 25 km, alternating with long stretches of sandy beaches, especially in the northern part, with rocky stretches to the sea.

The immediate vicinity of Otranto was probably inhabited in the Paleolithic period, certainly from the Neolithic period, the town was then populated by Messapians (which were discovered in 1995 the walls and a gate of the city), race prior to the Greeks, then - conquered by them - came in Ancient Greece, and again fell into the hands of the Romans, and soon became the town hall.

Possibly founded by the Tarantini, then underwent the occupation of the Greeks, Romans, Lombards, and was repeatedly besieged by the Saracens and Turks who took possession on 11 August 1480, indulging in a bloody sack.

First messapico center and Roman, then Byzantine and later Aragonese, spread around the imposing Norman castle and cathedral.

Archbishop's residence and major tourist destination, has given its name to the Strait of Otranto, which separates Italy from Albania, and the Terra d'Otranto, an ancient district of the Kingdom of Naples. In 2010, the old town was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO as a Messenger of Peace. The club is part of the most beautiful villages in Italy.

Monuments of interest

The Cathedral: with the extraordinary mosaic floor of the twelfth century, due to the ingenious imagination and skill of monaco Pantaleone, who had to intesservi scenes from the Old Testament and dall'epopea Breton King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In the crypt are harmoniously fused together with striking effect, the architectural styles that have gradually illutrato the Norman-Swabian support bases Greek Roman columns adorned with Byzantine capitals, or even Byzantine columns culminating in classical capitals, marble or clogs on which rest porphyry columns ending in capitals of tuff and basalt;

The Aragonese Castle: which dates back to the sixteenth century, of polygonal, equipped with cylindrical towers;

The Basilica of St. Peter: in the Byzantine style, includes numerous frescoes from various periods, and columns richly worked;

The church of St. Francis: erected in memory of the eight hundred martyrs perpetual turkish siege of 1480, includes in its epigraph walled the entire history of the country;

The Caves of Enza: which date back 4000-2000 BC;

The Caves of the Cervo: dating back to the Neolithic period.