Do you want to dive into the waves of art and history without, among other things, forgetting the real ones, made of water and saltiness? So call on us. SalentoVirtuale.com offers you a short itinerary that includes all of this, even if in a period of only five days. Our route starts from Galatone (about 24 km from Lecce). Here you can admire the Sanctuary of the Crocefisso della Pietà, which shows a Baroque façade full of friezes and niches with statues surrounding a portal of Renaissance taste. But also the inside is no less: in fact it is gorgeous with stucco works and decorations that seem to wrap in an embrace the icon of the Crucifix, much worshipped here by the believers because it is prodigal of miraculous events. From the sanctuary to the Mother Church of S. Maria dell’Assunta where, among the numerous baroque paintings housed inside, the solemn “Crucifixion” (in the second chapel on the right) stands out, a masterpiece by Antonio Donato d’Orlando; moreover, the large wooden Crucifix above the main altar dates back to 1599… But now let’s put the art aside (manipulating a well-known saying) and let’s “cool off” in the waters of S. Maria al Bagno. In addition to the sea and the beaches here you can also admire the suggestive Quattro Colonne, a piece of 16th century history, not without first experiencing the “shiver” of passing under the promontory of Punta dell’Aspide, better known as the Montagna Spaccata which, they say, could fall at any moment … So let’s take refuge a few miles away into the hinterland and precisely in Tuglie, up to Montegrappa: from here a wonderful view opens, which subjugates the minds of any traveller getting through there. It is an evocative landscape that, without any expectation, shows a “piece” of Salento in its raw, without frills but rich in precious nuances that only few people can understand and appreciate. But now let’s go back to the town, to the 17th century Ducal Palace, where we will find the Museum of Rural Civilization and Popular Traditions of Salento. Here are kept tools, objects, photos and very interesting finds belonging to the 19th and 20th centuries. From Tuglie we can move to the nearby Alezio, where we can visit the Civic Messapian Museum, located in Palazzo Tafuri. Here you can admire tombs, ceramic objects and funerary equipments dating back to the 4th-6th centuries BC … To complete our journey, why do not we give ourselves a nice dive into the sea? A few km from Alezio there is the famous seaside resort Torre del Pizzo: its waters, so clear and inviting, will wrap us in a cool hug that will make us feel at peace not only with ourselves but also with the whole world.
