Guagnano
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Guagnano (
Salentino Salentino () is a dialect of the Extreme Southern Italian ( in Italian) spoken in the Salento peninsula, which is the southern part of the region of Apulia at the southern "heel" of the Italian peninsula. Overview Salentino is a dialect of the ...
: ) 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 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 ...
,
Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...
, south-eastern
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 ...
. Situated in northern
Salento Salento ( Salentino: ''Salentu'', Salentino Griko: ''Σαλέντο'') is a cultural, historical and geographic region at the southern end of the administrative region of Apulia in Southern Italy. It is a sub-peninsula of the Italian Peninsula ...
, it also includes the fraction of Villa Baldassarri.


History

Guagnano was originally part of a group of villages, and at the end of the 13th century the region belonged to the feud of the count of Lecce. It became the possession of the
Orsini del Balzo The House of Orsini del Balzo was an Italian noble family from the 13th and 14th centuries. The dynasty was founded with the marriage between Roberto from the Orsini family and Sveve del Balzo from the House of Baux. The family produced a Queen ...
,
princes of Taranto The Principality of Taranto was a state in southern Italy created in 1088 for Bohemond I, eldest son of Robert Guiscard, as part of the peace between him and his younger brother Roger Borsa after a dispute over the succession to the Duchy of Ap ...
, then passed into the hands of Baron Matteo de Admiaris, before becoming the possession of a series of families (the Sambiasi, the Zurlo, the Paladini, the Galateo, the Lopez, the Santoro and the Mattehei, the Albrigi, then finally the Filomarini, Dukes of Cutrofiano). In 1811 a large village, Villa Baldassarri, was added to the principality of Guagnano and remains part of it today.


Origin of name

The etymologia of Guagnano possibly derives from a word referring to marshes that are rich in water. It could also derive from a Latin name of an unidentified person, maybe Covanius or Aequanius, with the suffix "-ano" added to indicate possession of a property. According to historian Giacomo Arditi, however, the name comes from the word ''guadagno'' which refers to the fertility of the land and the meadows and to lucrative activities of the region.


Geography


Territory

The territory of Guagnano, 24 km northwest of
Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...
and bordering on the
Province of Brindisi The Province of Brindisi ( it, Provincia di Brindisi) is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Brindisi. It has an area of and a total population of 401,652 (2013). Geography The Province of Brindisi is situated in ...
, sits 44 m above sea level and covers 37 km². The western part of the territory falls in the zone of the Terra d'Arneo, the area of Salento on the Ionian coast between San Pietro in Bevagna and Torre dell'Inserraglio. Guagnano is bordered by:
San Donaci San Donaci is a ''comune'' in the province of Brindisi in Apulia, on the southeast coast of Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the midd ...
and
Cellino San Marco Celino San Marco ( Leccese: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Brindisi in Apulia, on the south-east coast of Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is ...
to the north, Campi Salentina to the east,
Salice Salentino Salice Salentino is a small town and ''comune'' in the southern part of Apulia, Italy, in the Salento area. It is bounded with the province of Taranto to the northwest and the province of Brindisi to the north. Main sights include the ''Chiesa ...
to the south, and
San Pancrazio Salentino San Pancrazio Salentino ( Brindisino: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Brindisi in Apulia, on the south-east Italy coast. Its main economic activities are tourism and the growing of olives and grapes. Twin towns — sister cities San Pancrazi ...
to the west.


Climate

Guagnano has a Mediterranean climate with mild winters and hot humid summers. The average temperature in January, its coldest month, is 9 °C, while in its hottest month, August, the average temperature is 24.7 °C. Yearly average precipitation, which is frequent in autumn and winter, reaches 626 mm. Spring and summer are characterized by long periods of drought. Eastern Salento is subject to cold winds from the Balkans and hot winds from North Africa.


Main sights


Chiesa Madre

Construction on the ''Chiesa Madre'' (
Mother Church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral or a metro ...
), dedicated to the
Madonna Assunta The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic_Mariology#Dogmatic_teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and d ...
, began in the 18th century. It was built over a 15th-century structure made on the spot where an image of Our Lady of the Rosary was found. It has a large
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
facade divided into two orders, characterized by an entrance above which is located a sculpture of the Assumption, and flanked by two smaller doors with refined decoration. The interior, with the shape of a
Latin cross A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...
with three naves, is decorated with opulent gold-plated stucco. The naves, with starred ceilings, house several Baroque altars dedicated to: the Crucifixion; St Francis Xavier; St Oronzo; the Madonna del Carmine; Sts Cosmas and Damian; St Francis of Assisi; and St Joseph. In the right transept is an important altar dedicated to the Madonna of the Rosary containing an image of the Virgin from the 14th century. The Renaissance baptistery is recently restored.


Church of the Madonna of the Rosario

The church of the Madonna of the Rosario, was constructed in the middle of the 18th century. It contains relics of the four martyrs; of particular interest is the statue of the Virgin.


Manors

*Bosco Manor (19th century) *Camarda Manor (17th century) *Marina Manor (13th century) *Monte Calabrese Manor (18th century) *Nardo di Prato Fortified Manor (15th – 16th century) *Patriglione Manor (18th century) *Poggi Manor (19th century) *Pucciano Manor (17th-18th century) *San Gaetano Fortified Manor (15th-16th century)


Language

The
Salentino Salentino () is a dialect of the Extreme Southern Italian ( in Italian) spoken in the Salento peninsula, which is the southern part of the region of Apulia at the southern "heel" of the Italian peninsula. Overview Salentino is a dialect of the ...
dialect is spoken in Guagnano in a variant that is much influenced by the dialect of Lecce. The Salentino dialect was influenced by the various linguistic groups that established themselves in this area including:
Messapi The Messapians ( grc, Μεσσάπιοι, Messápioi; la, Messapii) were a Iapygian tribe who inhabited Salento in classical antiquity. Two other Iapygian tribes, the Peucetians and the Daunians, inhabited central and northern Apulia respectivel ...
,
Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
, Romans, Byzantines, Lombards, Normans, Albanians, French, and Spaniards.


Culture

Events in the town include: * The Feast of St Anthony the Abbot, with the traditional bonfire on the last Sunday of January * The Feast of St Joseph (March 19) * The festival of the grapes and wine ("dell'Uva Cardinal e del Vino") during the last ten days of July * The "Terre del Negroamaro" Prize on the first Friday after August 15 * The Feast of the ''Madonna of Mount Carmel'', with a traditional festival during the first ten days of September * Feast of the Madonna of the Rosary, with a traditional market during the first ten days of October


Economy

The cultivation of grapes is the most important economic activity of Guagnano. Grapes are grown for use in both table wines as well as wines for selling and export. It is at the center of the production DOC of the wine known as Salice Salentino and numerous cantinas have been established in this sector by various consortiums. Furniture making is also a significant economic factor of the area.


Transportation

State road 7, stretching from Taranto to Lecce, runs through the city center of Guagnano and is its main road. The city center can also be reached by local roads SP104, SP105, SP106, and SP327. Guagnano sits on the railway line Martina Franca-Lecce.


References

{{authority control Cities and towns in Apulia Localities of Salento