Daily Archives: September 16, 2023

Galatina and Gallipoli

September 16, 2023 – 8:15 am

Galatina is a small town famous for the Church of St Catherine of Alexandria. It was built in 1391 in the Romanesque and Gothic styles.

It was commissioned by a man named Romandello. He was the forth son of a local rich lord and not expected to receive any wealth from his father. So he became a crusader knight and a dignitary in the court of Naples. He married up to the countess of Lecce. Supposedly he bit off the finger of the dead St Catherine in Naples and brought it home to create a pilgrimage destination of the Church of St Catherine. He died six years after marrying the countess. She then married her husband’s enemy, the king of Naples. After 8 years, he died in battle. She returned from Naples and commissioned frescos for the church in her first husband’s name. She did not like the work and recommissioned the frescos to be painted again by different artists. The church is spectacular. All the scenes are from the Bible: the Apocalypse; Genesis; Life of Jesus; scenes from St Catherine’s life.

Raymondello, who commissioned the church to be built.

From Galantine, southwest of Lecce, we drove to Gallipoli on the Ionian Sea. There we wandered around the town and enjoyed watching the scene. Being a beach town, Everyone was casual and relaxed. Gallipoli is an island with a strong ancient defensive position that makes for a good tourist visit today.

Entrance to our suite 18 steps up once inside the door
The very nice pool we are enjoying
View of our suite and roof top space from the pool area.
Our rooftop at sunset

When we have not been sightseeing we have been hanging out at Masseria Trapana, our digs for 5 nights. Today we had a day off and tomorrow we plan to drive the east coast from Otronto to Santa Maria di Leuca. I apologize again for the content mishap. Hopefully it won’t happen again.

By adventureswithjulia | Posted in Adventures | Comments (2)

Masseria Trepana, our home while we visited Otronto and Lecce

September 16, 2023 – 6:38 am

September 13, 2023

Masseria Trepana is a villa near Lecce that our agent in New York, Martina, thought we would enjoy. A Masseria refers to a farm house surrounded by local orchards including oranges, persimmons, pomegranates, figs and especially, olives. We arrived at noon time after having spent the morning on a self-guided walk about Matera. Got a few more photos that we included in yesterday’s post. Massimo drove us from Matera to the villa through flat countryside full of what looked like thousands of dead olive trees. We asked about the trees and were told that many thousands of olive trees had been attacked by bugs that caused a virus and killed the trees.

I have spent many hours updating the blog and was nearly finished with our time in Otronto, and Lecce, when my computer died and I lost all the text from several days. I do not have the energy to recreate the text, but will send lots of photos to try to make up for it. Our first day at the Masseria, we went to Otronto and met our guide, Sabrina.

We carried on and visited the Church of the Martyrs, the results of Ottoman savagery in 1480 and Renaissance architecture, and a huge tiles floor inside the Church of the Martyrs, along with 72 columns in the crypt, plus a lovely frescos. The Ottomans beheaded 800 people for refusing to give up their religion. The church contains some of the skulls.

Lunch included this wine-like bottle of beer.

On to Lecce, the capital the province. Turns out Puglio is the capital of the region, not a province. We took a break after lunch and reset with Sabrina at 5pm for another walking tour. This one was of the Old City of Lecce.

Church of the Martyrs
The Piazza Duomo with the Bell Tower and Bishop’s offices
A beautiful contemporary bronze entrance to the Basilica. On it is an image of Pope John Paul II.
A 1600’s baroque facade
A Romanesque faced from the 1500’s
More baroque b balconiesA Romanesque facade from the 1500’s
Baroque attachments provide humor
Horses facing all different directions. Some even showing teeth.
Town Street with raeoque balconies

This Basilica shines in the setting sun. The top is Baroque and the bottom is Romanesque.

A bride at the end of her wedding.
A Roman amphitheater that held 25,000 people. Currently used for summer performances.
St Alonzo, the patron saint of Lecce and a First century Bishop who was killed by Nero’s henchmen.

After the tour Sabrina took us to a special restaurant in the middle of the city called Vico dei Sotterranei. We had an excellent meal, found our way back to the car and drove home.

Excellent appetizers at Vico dei Sotterranei
By adventureswithjulia | Posted in Adventures | Comments (2)