Information on sleeping in the municipality of Carpignano Salentino (Lecce)
Population: 3980 Area: 480 km2 Density: 81 Accessibility: The
Municipality of Carpignano Salentino is 26 km from
Lecce It can be reached from the Lecce-Maglie provincial road. Take the Martano exit and then easily reach Carpignano. Address: Carpignano Salentino Town Hall: P. Duca D'Aosta Tel.: 0836 – 580406
Carpignano Salentino It is located in Salento, in the province of Lecce. It is one of the smallest towns in Salento in terms of population density. It is part of the Grecìa salentina, a strip of Salento that preserves a culture of Greek origin. It has a long and ancient history, stretching from the late Neolithic period through the Messapian, Roman, and Byzantine eras, up to the 13th century, when its current layout dates back. Its beautiful, ovoid-shaped historic center, which was unfortunately stripped of its medieval defensive structures at the end of the 19th century, still retains several elements that hark back to that glorious past. The oldest document mentioning the Casale di Carpignano is the deed of gift from King Charles I of Anjou, which included the hamlet of Copertino, to two of his loyal feudal lords (from a descriptive inscription in the Mus.Ar.Ca.). Subsequently the fiefdom passed to Ugo di Brienne and then to Giovanni d'Enghien, under whom the fortification began, with the construction of the tower, a tower on a truncated pyramid base (documented by the calcarenite stele, bearing an inscription in Greek which attests to its construction in 1377, today preserved in the Castromediano museum in Lecce). In the 15th century, the fiefdom, through Maria d'Enghien, passed to the Orsini del Balzo and then to Pirro del Balzo, Duke of Andria and Venosa, the latter, due to the Turkish raids, unified all the nearby hamlets in favour of Carpignano, to which he completed the fortification by adding the walls with a moat and two gates as can be seen from the plan by Pacichelli, in his great work “The Kingdom of Naples in perspective” (1703). During the War of Otranto, Pyrrhus defeated the Turks on the Cacorzo plain, where today stands the large dovecote tower, built by the same family during that period (from the chronicles of the Duke of Bari's commissioner, AD 5 September 1480). Untouched by the horrific Turkish invasion, it offered shelter to many families who escaped the massacre throughout the Bourbon period. It remained surrounded by walls until the end of the 19th century, when, along with other fortified cities, it underwent a process of "modernization." The tower (according to oral tradition) collapsed and subsequently gave way to the beautiful Chironi Palace. Meanwhile, the garden was acquired by Duke Ghezzi for the expansion of his palace, while the rubble from the walls filled the moat. It includes the
fraction of Serrano, 1 km away is a small town where you can also find
Hotel Sanlu, a hotel we recommend staying at. It is approximately 26 km from the capital city of Lecce in a south-southeast direction and 10 km from
Otranto and from the Adriatic coast of the Salento peninsula. The closest seaside resort is
Tower of St. Andrew, with its most famous night club, Babilonia, which is part of the municipality of Melendugno.
What to visit in Carpignano salentino?
Today Carpignano offers interesting historical sites to tourists: First of all, the remarkable Byzantine Crypt of Santa Cristina, also known as the Church of the Madonna delle Grazie, dating back to the 10th century. and it is one of the oldest places of worship in Puglia.
Entirely carved out of the limestone rock, it is an important example of Byzantine art in Salento and contains the oldest frescoes in Southern Italy, signed and dated (Book a visit at +39 339 4402579).
The sanctuary of Maria SS della Grotta, following an event reported by oral tradition, which narrates that on July 2, 1568, a beautiful lady appeared in a dream to the old Frangisco Vincenti, known as Lo Pace, who had taken refuge in a cave during a storm. She said she was the Mother of God and that she wanted a temple built in that very place, promising protection.
The next day, a Byzantine representation of Mary was found among the rubble in that cave.
The people cried out that it was a miracle and the place became a destination of pilgrimage.
In a short time (three years) the largest Marian sanctuary in the whole of Puglia was built, with an annexed abbey, thanks to the huge donations collected and then administered by the then deacon Annibale di Capua, who became the first abbot of Maria SS della Grotta (book a visit at +39 377 239 3974).
The dovecote tower, Palumbaru in the local dialect, with its 12 metres in height and 62 metres in circumference is the largest of these structures.
Inside there is another quadrangular tower, both with thousands of cells housing as many pairs of rock pigeons.
The architrave of the small door facing south; southeast, bears the heraldic coat of arms of the Del Balzo-Acquaviva family, certifying ownership to the feudal lord Bernardino del Balzo and his wife Isabella Acquaviva.
The tower was used for raising pigeons, for a continuous supply of meat, as well as being a fundamental source for the collection of columbine, contained in guano, an excellent fertilizer and a fundamental element in the tanning of leather (can only be visited from the outside).
The parish church dedicated to Maria SS Assunta, stands on a former building. The reconstruction of the entire church, of which, however, the façade and bell tower were not completed, was completed in 1709.
Of the old building, the valuable baptismal font and three minor altars remain.
Of notable interest is the floor mosaic created by the famous mosaicist Giuseppe Peluso in 1886. While the choir stalls are preserved in the presbytery.
The seventeenth-century entrance portal was finely sculpted by the master Placido Buffelli and flanked by two angels with arms intertwined on their chests (the monument is open every day until the time of evening Mass).
The Church of the Immaculate Conception was built on a former place of worship around the mid-18th century as the seat of the Confraternity of the same name, recognized by decree of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon in 1777.
The nobleman Nicola Spiri contributed to the construction with a donation of two thousand ducats, whose family coat of arms is reproduced on the portal and on the intrados of the vault.
The main altar, attributed to the Alessandrian sculptor and architect Emanuele Orfano, was built in 1790 and features a canvas depicting the Immaculate Conception dated 1842.
Of notable value are the stalls for the brothers located along the perimeter of the hall (book a visit at +39 329 148 7705). The Mus.Ar.Ca (Carpignanese archaeological museum) preserves an important slice of the historical memory of Salento.
It collects the finds discovered during archaeological activities in the area.
A mandatory itinerary with a series of illustrated panels gives rise to a story of over 6000 years of history, which begins with the Neolithic ceramics of the prehistoric settlement.
The faithful reconstruction of the Neolithic cave tomb, discovered by chance in Carpignano in Via Pasquale Pasca in 2001, is beautiful.
This gave rise to a series of studies that allowed the reconstruction of the history of the place from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages.
The dating of the bones in the burial, calculated by the University of Salento using the modern radiocarbon method, places the burial at five thousand years BC. The Mus.Ar.Ca. It houses a large part of the funerary objects and many other finds during other occasional excavations in the historic center of the town, thus completing the history of the small town up to the present day (for visits call +39 333 424 0490) An underground oil mill in Piazza Madonna delle Grazie, recently recovered and made accessible to visitors.
Guide Egidio Catullo, a volunteer and passionate about rural culture, accompanies visitors into a world that no longer exists (for tours, call +39 339 843 5151). The historic center is a place that seduces travelers seeking tranquility and beauty; here, time truly seems to have stood still. It preserves a very unique historical and architectural heritage, where tourists immerse themselves in a sort of open-air theater by visiting churches, palaces, ancient city walls, towers, museums and much more.
Furthermore, after sunset you can admire “Effimera”, a large-scale collective reminiscence project, which celebrates what characterised the legendary presence of the Odin Teatret in the summer of '74, which gave rise to the great Salento movement for the reappropriation of popular tradition.
Some iconic photos by Tony D'Urso, the official photographer of the stay, appear in the evening on the walls of the houses in the center of Carpignano, piquing the curiosity of passersby. Ephemeral, it exalts those "places" that hosted one of the most innovative and traditional theatrical practices at the same time, the cultural barter, which the actors of the Odin Teatret implemented, writing one of the most beautiful chapters in the history of the Theatre (visible only in the evening).
The tourist and cultural information is provided by Antonio D'Ostuni.
Carpignano Salentino is also famous for its very famous
Party you Mieru.
