Things to do in Torre dell'Orso Italy – what to see attractions and activities

The Tower of Roca Vecchia is located in the Municipality of Melendugno, province of Lecce. Currently, the building is in a very bad state of preservation. There is only part of the walls left of the structure.

In the sea cave called Poesia Piccola, the ancient temple of the god Thaotor Andiras, numerous rock inscriptions have been discovered in Messapian, Greek and Latin languages.

The tower of San Foca was built in 1568 by Antonio Saponaro, for defensive reasons against Turkish invasions. The building has a square base structure. After some restorations, today, the tower is home to the Harbor Authority.

The Castle was built around the fifteenth century at the behest of Baron Gaspare Petraroli of Ostuni. He had this building built after Ferdinand of Aragon gave him the city. Overall, it is a modest, not imposing construction that looks more like a residential building. It is currently in good condition and you can still see its original form.

The Baronial Palace D'Amely, also called castle, looks like a large tower built in the second half of the 16th century on commission of Pompeo Paladini, seventh baron of Melendugno and Lizzanello. Access to the property was possible through a drawbridge. With the advent of the Barons D'Amely, the drawbridge was replaced with a masonry one surmounted by the noble emblem: two lions supporting a crenellated tower on their backs. Above the coat of arms stands the statue of the Immaculate Madonna.

The Abbey of San Niceta is located in Melendugno in the province of Lecce. It is dedicated to Saint Niceta a martyr, protector of Melendugno, who was burned for his Catholic faith on the orders of the Aryan king Athanaric.

The Castle of Amely was built on the edge of an ancient city wall by the architect Gian Giacomo dell'Acaya, at the behest of Pompeo Paladini, around the 16th century. Fortunately, it still retains its original shape and is in excellent condition. Today it is open to the public.

The Bay of the Turks, a few kilometers north of Otranto, is the place where, according to tradition, Turkish warriors landed during the siege of the city of Otranto in the fifteenth century. 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.

The Cesine Nature Reserve is a natural oasis managed by WWF Italy and is located near the coastal stretch of Vernole. Its name comes from Segine, which means abandoned area. The Reserve consists of two ponds divided by a cord of sandy dunes called Salapi and Pantano Grande. The oasis is characterized by the presence of the diving duck, called the Moriglione, which occurs in the autumn and winter months in the stagnant and brackish areas of the Reserve.

The Acaya Castle was built in around 1535 and represents an excellent military architectural example of the era of Charles V. The wall perimeter shows a rectangular shape, with a structure shaped like trapeze. The only connection system with the ground was the bridge. Inside the building a chapel was found used solely by the Baron, as well as an oven and a mill. In the 18th century the castle was destroyed by the Turks.

The Walled Village of Acaya, located in the town of Vernole in the province of Lecce, is part of the homonymous castle. The construction dates back to medieval times, and was modified around the middle of 1500 by the architect Gian Giacomo dell'Acaya, on commission of his father Alfonso d'Acaya. Currently it can be visited by all interested parties and tourists.

Porta Alfonsina was built during the fifteenth century as part of the city walls. It was commissioned by Alfonso of Aragon, from whom it also took its name. His is a polygonal structure, and it was built to defend the city from possible enemy attacks. Today, the building is in a good state of preservation.

The Civic Museum of Paleontology is home to outstanding collections of prehistoric. It was founded in 1960 by the Speleological Group Salentino and is entitled to Decio de Laurentiis, who directed him until his death. The exhibition starts with the earliest evidence of life in Salento about Cretaceous era to reach up to the beginning of the Iron Age.

Made in the period of Norman rule, between 1080 and 1088, the Cathedral of the Annunciation with its 54 meters long and 25 meters wide, is the largest church in Puglia. In Romanesque style, the cathedral collects in its structure Norman, Arabic and Greek elements.

Church of Byzantine origin which is located in the historic center of Otranto. It is one of the most representative buildings of the Byzantine mold of the South.

The castle has medieval origins, but the current appearance is the result of a series of restorations carried out over the years. It is a large pentagonal plant with a defensive character. Today, it is in an excellent state of preservation. The majesty of the castle inspired the writer Horace Walpole in the creation of the first Gothic novel in the history of literature.

The church of Santa Chiara is located in the historic center of Lecce, in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. Its first foundation, commissioned by Bishop Thomas Ammirato, dates back to 1429; between 1687 and 1691 it was thoroughly restored.

The Bilge Mirror, is a megalithic monument present within the Messapian settlement. Among the many mirrors existing in the Cavallinese territory, this is the most important in size. Its function is that of defense and vigilance and takes its name from the Latin verb speculor which means “observing around”. The large pile has elliptical base and a height of 3 meters.

The Corigliano Castle is one of the most special architectural models found in the municipality of Corigliano d'Otranto. It was built in a quadrangular shape with four corner towers and surrounded by a deep moat. On the facade we can admire paintings by several famous people of the time. Between 1514 and 1519 the building was renovated by Giovan Battista de' Monti. In 1667 the structure passed to the Trani family who transformed it into a ducal palace.

The Doge's Palace or Castromedian-Limburg Castle is a construction from the second half of the 15th century. The interior, characterized by an atrium in which there is a statue in Lecce stone depicting the founder of the Castromediano family, houses vast rooms decorated with architectural elements typical of the Baroque period. Of particular artistic value are the gallery, whose cross vault is enriched by the symbols of the zodiac, the arms room and the living room.

The Menhir di Ussano, within the competence of the municipality of Cavallino, is 5 km from the town. The term menhir, of Breton origin, is obtained from the union of the words' men 'and' hir ', i.e. 'long stone'. This is 2.50 m tall and octagonal.