20 Attractions to Explore Near Piazza Sant'Oronzo

The Basilica di Santa Croce is the main Franciscan church in Florence, Italy. It is a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. The church is a gleaming riot of sculptural decoration that resembles a wedding cake. Lecce is called the "Florence of the south," and this church is the symbol of Lecce's Baroque splendor that earned it that name. One of the main pilgrimage centres in this area and a tourist attraction too.

The castle of Lecce is located near the city center, more precisely a little further east of it, near Piazza Sant'Oronzo. It was first built in the Middle Ages, and was strengthened by Charles V in 1539, to a design by the architect Gian Giacomo dell’Acaya. Although it has undergone several rebuilds over the centuries, the structure preserves its original trapezoidal base with four massive arrowhead bastions on each corner. An internal courtyard separates two concentric buildings.

Porto Cesareo is an Italian town of 6 194 inhabitants in the province of Lecce in Puglia. The tourist resort of Salento located on the Ionian coast of the Salento peninsula is 26.9 km from the provincial capital and is home to the Porto Cesareo Marine Protected Area and the Palude del Conte and Duna Costiera Regional Nature Reserve.

L ' Island of Rabbits is a Italian island belonging to ' archipelago of the Pelagie Islands, in Sicily. The islet, of 4.4 hectares, protected natural reserve, is located within a bay elected by TripAdvisor users, in the Travelers' Choice Awards, the most beautiful beach in the world in 2013, Europe and of Italy in 2014, 2015 and 2019.

The Porto Selvaggio and Palude del Capitano regional natural park is a protected natural area in Puglia located in the province of Lecce established by the regional law of 15 March 2006. It includes the area of ​​the equipped regional natural park of "Porto Selvaggio - Torre Uluzzo" and the marsh of the Captain. The coast is rocky and jagged and characterized by pine forests and Mediterranean scrub.

The Alimini lakes or Limini lakes are two Apulian lakes located north of the city of Otranto, in the province of Lecce. The two lakes are connected by a canal, called Lu Strittu . The name of the place derives from the ancient Greek and Byzantine name λίμνη, which translated into Italian means lake, swamp, or basin. It is almost completely surrounded by a rocky strip, richly covered by thick pine forests and Mediterranean scrub.

The Baia dei Turchi , a few kilometers north of Otranto , is the place where, according to tradition, the Turkish warriors landed during the siege of the city of Otranto in the 15th century ( Battle of Otranto ). Sandy and unspoiled, the bay belongs to the precious protected oasis of the Alimini Lakes , one of the most important ecosystems of Salento and Puglia.

Punta Prisuddi is a seaside town in the municipality of Porto Cesareo and in the extreme north-west of the province of Lecce, in Salento. The white sand beaches stretch out for several kilometers and behind them extend centuries-old dunes, covered by the typical Mediterranean vegetation of Salento. The raising of the seabed has generated a humid area that has produced a particular habitat for the establishment of a particular flora and fauna.

The cathedral of Santa Maria Annunziata is the most important Catholic place of worship in the city of Otranto, the mother church of the homonymous archdiocese. In July 1945, Pope Pius XII elevated the cathedral to the dignity of a minor basilica. The cathedral, built on the remains of a Messapian village, a Roman Domus, and an early Christian temple, was founded in 1068 by the Norman bishop Guglielmo. It is a synthesis of different architectural styles including Byzantine, Early Christian, and

The castle of Otranto is the fortress of the homonymous city located in Puglia, in the province of Lecce. The castle, which gave its name to the first Gothic novel in history, is closely related to the city walls with which it forms a single defensive apparatus. The current appearance of the fort is in fact due to Spanish Viceroys, who made it a real masterpiece of military architecture: extraordinary defense works were implemented in 1535 by Don Pedro of Toledo.

The castle of Gallipoli , almost completely surrounded by the sea, stands with its imposing mass at the eastern end of the island that is home to the ancient village. Probably built as early as the 11th century on pre-existing Roman fortifications, it was rebuilt in the 13th century in the Byzantine era. It was remodeled several times by the conquerors who followed one another over the centuries.

The port of Brindisi is one of the most important tourist, commercial and industrial ports of the Adriatic Sea . Tourist traffic concerns connections with the Balkan Peninsula and Turkey , while merchant traffic concerns coal , fuel oil , natural gas and chemicals. The port of Brindisi was certainly used already in the Messapian age , but it reached its maximum splendor in Roman times, when it became one of the most important ports in Rome , precisely because of its natural thrust towards the E

The lighthouse of Punta Palascìa, also known as Capo d’Otranto is commonly known as the easternmost point of the Italian peninsula; the tip that extends into the Otranto Canal. Already in thePeutingerian table, the settlement is reported under the name of Ydrunte. The lighthouse stands not far from where, up to the 19th century, there was a watchtower built during the Middle Ages.

The Zinzulusa is a natural coastal cave located along the Salento coast between Castro and Santa Cesarea Terme, one of the best known anchialine caves in southern Italy. The name of the cave derives from the dialect word " zinzuli ", rags, and is due to the karst formations, in particular stalactites , which hang from the ceiling as if they were hanging rags. The formation of the cave, which occurred due to marine erosion, dates back to the Pliocene period.

The Torre Guaceto state nature reserve is a protected natural area located on the Adriatic coast of upper Salento , a few kilometers from the centers of Carovigno and San Vito dei Normanni and 17 km from Brindisi . The Carovignese coasts of the reserve, the beaches of Torre Guaceto and Punta Penna Grossa, were awarded with the Blue Flag in 2007, and from 2016 to 2020. One of the less explored area and it was getting famous among the tourists.

Torre San Giovanni is a Salento seaside resort located on the Ionian Sea, in the province of Lecce. It is a fraction of the municipality of Ugento, which is about 5 km away, located between Torre Mozza and the marinas of Alliste, rises 3 meters above sea level with 430 inhabitants throughout the year and over 50,000 residents during the summer.

Pescoluse is a seaside resort in the province of Lecce and a hamlet of Salve. It is located in the lower Salento, on the stretch of the Ionian coast between Torre Pali and Torre Vado, the height of the Fano canal. The coast is low and sandy, characterized by the presence of dunes behind it. The peculiarity of the beach is that it has very fine and very clear sand, the finest in Salento. The coast faces south and its particular position allows Pescoluse to enjoy clear and crystalline water durin

The basilica sanctuary of Santa Maria de Finibus Terrae is a minor basilica and a sanctuary of Castrignano del Capo, located in the hamlet of Santa Maria di Leuca: it is so-called because it is located at the south-eastern end of the Italian peninsula. The Sanctuary, which was built over the ruins of an ancient pagan temple, stands on a spacious plaza. Over the centuries, its thick masonry walls have been reconstructed several times after sustaining damage during Turkish raids.

The coastal dunes regional natural park from Torre Canne to Torre San Leonardo is a protected natural area located in northern Salento, in the territory of the municipalities of Ostuni and Fasano, both in the province of Brindisi. It was established with the regional law of 27 October 2006, n. 31. The park has habitats and coastal environments of high naturalistic and landscape interest.

The National Archaeological Museum of Taranto is an Italian state museum. It exhibits one of the largest collections of artifacts dating back to the Magna Graecia era, including the famous gold of Taranto. It is owned by the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities, which since 2014 has counted it among the museum institutes with special autonomy.