Torricella (
Brindisino: ) is a town and ''
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...
'' in the
province of Taranto
The province of Taranto ( it, provincia di Taranto; Tarantino: ; Salentino: ), previously known as the province of the Ionian, is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Taranto. It has an area of , and a total popul ...
, in the
Apulia
it, Pugliese
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region of southeast
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 ...
. It is home to a large
tuff
Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...
castle from the 15th century, one of the best preserved in the region.
It is mostly an agricultural center, with production of olives and olive oil, wine, wheat, figs and sheep husbandry.
History
The settlement's origins date to the 11th century, when a group of shepherds and peasants abandoned the coast (where is now the archaeological site of Torre Ovo) to seek protection against the Saracen raids. To crypt of the Santissima Trinità church (12th century) is from that period.
In 1407 it was held by the Capitignano family, which was followed by the Santoro, Montagnese and Muscettola. After the abolition of feudalism in the early 19th century, it was part of Sava and then Lizzano, becoming an autonomous ''comune'' in 1954.
References
Cities and towns in Apulia
Localities of Salento
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