Population: 5417 inhabitants
Area: 29 kmXNUMX
Density: 180 inhabitants/km2
Accessibility: The centre is 20 km from the Salento capital Lecce , and can be reached from the SS.16 Adriatica.
Soleto Town Hall Address, Lecce: Town Hall Square
Tel .: 0836 - 667014
Already inhabited by the Messapians in the 4th century BC, as archaeological finds testify, Soleto was a centre of significant importance especially between the 14th and 15th centuries.
After having been affected throughout the Middle Ages, like the other centers belonging to the Grecìa salentina, by the Balkan migrations that, from the 5th century, introduced Byzantine style and culture, also imposing the use of the Greek language.
The discovery of some artefacts together with a cache of bronze axes, which were once used for religious functions, documents the presence of Soleto as early as the Neolithic.
In 2003, during archaeological excavations, a ceramic fragment from a vase of Messapian origin was found inside a large Messapian building. It features an engraved "map" of the Messapian territory with the location of the most important cities, dating back to the 6th-5th century BC. It is currently preserved at the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto (MarTa).
An ostracon (ceramic fragment) measuring just 6 by 3 cm testifies to the fact that the Messapians were already able to depict the landscape 500 years before Christ. Today, it is the most extraordinary and ancient testimony to the relationships that existed at the time between the Greeks and the local Calabrian and Sallentinian populations. Soleto is represented on the "Map" by the letters ΣΟΛ (Sol) and highlighted as a significant road junction, connecting the most important Messapian centers.
With the Roman conquest of Salento , the city , like many other Messapian locations, was adapted to the needs of the Empire.
But even from this era there remain visible traces of centuriation in the rural environment and the remains of a Roman “villa rustica” from 150 BC which came to light in the Paparusso estate during an excavation campaign in 2011.
Throughout the Middle Ages, like other centres belonging to the Grecìa salentina , Soleto was affected by Byzantine migrations, which from the 5th century introduced a lifestyle, culture and the use of the Greek language.
Soleto's period of greatest splendor was between the 14th and 15th centuries, under the rule of Raimondello Orsini-Del Balzo and his son Giovanni Antonio, Prince of Taranto.
In those years Soleto reached the height of its wealth and prestige, becoming the capital of a vast county.
Upon Raimondello's death, Soleto was governed by his widow Maria d'Enghien, who, after a brief interlude as Queen of Naples, strengthened her position over Soleto by expanding her dominion.
The county of Soleto will eventually wear out with the great Orsini lordship closed in 1463, after which the hub of the area will become the ducal Galatina.
Soleto has always been shrouded in mystery and has been considered a place of magic, linked to the rites of the macàre (witches), the evil eye, the concept of luck, and magical-religious codes.
Also known for the supposed ability of its inhabitants to ward off the evil eye, it enjoys this fame thanks to the figure of its most famous citizen, Matteo Tafuri, scientist, alchemist, writer, doctor, poet, astronomer, mathematician and astrologer.
A figure shrouded in legend due to his intense and eventful life, he lived in the 15th century and was widely considered a sorcerer. His house in the historic center is still visited today.
The historic center, with its apotropaic masks placed on the houses to ward off negativity, contains numerous noble palaces built during the sixteenth century.
Among these are the church of the Madonna delle Grazie, annexed to the convent of the Friars Minor from the early seventeenth century, and the church of San Nicola with the annexed Monastery of the Poor Clares from the second half of the same century.
Among the most important monuments, we have the Guglia di Soleto , an imposing late-Gothic bell tower, annexed to the 18th-century parish church, which replaces the old medieval church damaged by the earthquake.
The spire's dating is uncertain; some 18th-century writings mention an epigraph, now lost, perhaps placed on the terminal parapet with the inscription "Magister Franciscus Colaci / Suburbien MCCCXCVII." Recent studies, based on stylistic comparisons and documentary research, place the spire's construction in the 15th century, commissioned by Raimondello's son, Prince Giannantonio Del Balzo Orsini.
Popular belief, however, attributes the construction of the beautiful Spire to the alchemist Matteo Tafuri, who, using magical-demonic workers who operated under his command, in one night gave Soleto its most beautiful monument, today a national monument.
A true architectural gem, embodying the majesty and spiritual mystery of 14th-century Greco-Byzantine art, the Church of Santo Stefano is a true architectural gem. Originally dedicated to Saint Sophia, it was built in 1347, likely by order of Raimondello Orsini Del Balzo and his wife Maria d'Enghien. It stands as a testament to the important Italo-Greek cultural crossroads that characterized the area until the 16th century. Its interior is embellished with fresco cycles that decorate the walls and narrate, through vivid colors and expressive figures, stories of faith and devotion. Its façade is adorned with a late Romanesque portal, crowned by a rose window and an elegant bell tower.
Equally important is Porta San Vito, the last of the four entrance gates to the historic center and the only remaining section of the medieval walls. Its arch is surmounted by an 18th-century statue of the Madonna. The magnificent Church of the Souls in Purgatory, most likely built over a medieval structure, is noteworthy. Its 17th-century Baroque portal, decorated with skulls and figures of suffering souls, is a remarkable work.
Source: Antonio D'Ostuni, popularizer of popular traditions.