250px, A view of the castle.
Acaya is a small village, a community, in the
province of Lecce
The Province of Lecce ( it, Provincia di Lecce; Salentino: ) is a province in the Apulia region of Italy whose capital is the city of Lecce. The province is called the "Heel of Italy". Located on the Salento peninsula, it is the second most-p ...
and region of
Apulia
it, Pugliese
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, in southern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
Description
The heart of the settlement is a good example of the few fortified villages left in Apulia, and its layout was planned to optimize defense and survival capabilities. The street pattern dates back at least to the 16th century and divides the village into rectangular ''insulae'', or islands. The centre consists of six streets laid out in a regular pattern, parallel with each other and running roughly from north to south, all with a width of four meters, all but one some seventeen meters apart, and almost all having the same length. From east to west, three streets run at right-angles to the six north–south streets, one each at their south and north ends and one across the middle, making all of the streets
orthogonal
In mathematics, orthogonality is the generalization of the geometric notion of ''perpendicularity''.
By extension, orthogonality is also used to refer to the separation of specific features of a system. The term also has specialized meanings in ...
. The important buildings, such as the castle and the church, are built outside this grid of streets, the castle standing a little way off to the south-west.
The village lies some five kilometers from the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
and the
Cesine public nature reserve (''Riserva naturale statale Le Cesine'').
Main sights
*
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
built by
Gian Giacomo of Acaya in 1535–1536. The trapezoidal
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
fortress, is a trace of the
Arragon period.
* Fortified citadel
* Church of Santa Maria della Neve
* Chapel of San Paolo constructed in the 18th century.
Modern buildings
* Double Tree built a five star resort which includes an 18-hole golf club.
Further reading
* Luciano Graziuso (1979). ''Vernole e frazioni''. Capone editore.
* Mario Cazzato, Antonio Costantini. (1990). ''Guida di Acaya''. Capone editore.
* Antonio Monte, ''Acaya: Una citta-fortezza del Rinascimento meridionale (Tesori di Puglia),'' (1996)
* Antonio Fasiello ''Cronaca della Taranta, Il Tarantismo in Acaya'' (2005). Mancarella editore.
* Rossella Barletta ''Acaya. Borgo, castello, dintorni'' (2010). Edizioni del Grifo.
External links
Frazioni of the Province of Lecce
Cities and towns in Apulia
Castles in Italy
Italian states
{{Puglia-geo-stub
