Maglie ( Salentino: ;

Griko Griko, sometimes spelled Grico, is the dialect of Italiot Greek spoken by Griko people in Salento (province of Lecce) and (also called Grecanic) in Calabria. Some Greek linguists consider it to be a Modern Greek dialect and often call it ( el, ...

: , translit. ; la, Mallae) 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 ...

in the

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

region of south-east

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 ...

History

The Maglie area was settled as early as the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

and the early

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

, and before, as testified by the presence of archaic

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...

s and

menhir A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be foun ...

s, and by the Cattìe site, discovered in 1980, and featuring 12,000 tools and 800 bone remains. Maglie, initially a countryside ''casale'', developed around the castle built in the 13th century, probably under the Angevine kings of Naples and later renewed by Andriolo Lubello, the local baron under king

Alfonso I of Aragon Alfonso I (''c''. 1073/10747 September 1134), called the Battler or the Warrior ( es, el Batallador), was King of Aragon and Navarre from 1104 until his death in 1134. He was the second son of King Sancho Ramírez and successor of his brother Pe ...

Main sights

*''Duomo'' (Cathedral, also called ''Chiesa Collegiata''). It was built in the late 18th century on the site of two previous buildings tracing back to 14th and 16th century. Its bell tower (1686–90), standing at about , is the tallest in the province. The four upper storeys are attributed to Giuseppe Zimbalo. *Church of ''Madonna delle Grazie'', in Baroque style (early 16th century). The interior has a 1645 Baroque altar and 17th century canvasses. It also features a column, similar to the Lecce's Column of St. Oronzo by Zimbalo, built in 1684–87. *Church of ''Madonna Addolorata'' (18th century) *''Palazzo Baronale''

Economy

Maglie's economy is based on commerce, craftmanship (especially of local stone), and tourism.

Demographics

Population development since 1861: Migrant communities in Maglie with more than ten people 01.01.2020:

Transportation

Maglie is served by the

Ferrovie Sud Est Ferrovie del Sud Est (FSE) is a railway company in Apulia region, Italy. The company operates in the ''comuni'' south of Lecce and in the provinces of Bari, Brindisi and Taranto. The company also operates bus lines. In August 2016 its network ...

Zollino Zollino (Griko: , translit. ; Salentino: ) is a small town and ''comune'' of 2,194 inhabitants in the province of Lecce in Apulia, Italy. It is one of the nine towns of Grecìa Salentina, which still keeps Greek language and traditions. History ...

- Gagliano and Maglie-

Otranto Otranto (, , ; scn, label=Salentino, Oṭṛàntu; el, label= Griko, Δερεντό, Derentò; grc, Ὑδροῦς, translit=Hudroûs; la, Hydruntum) is a coastal town, port and ''comune'' in the province of Lecce (Apulia, Italy), in a ferti ...

lines. It is crossed by two state roads, the SS16 Adriatica Lecce-Maglie-Otranto, and the SS275 from

Santa Maria di Leuca Santa Maria di Leuca, often spelled simply Leuca (, from ''Leukos'', "white"), is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Castrignano del Capo, in the Salento peninsula ( Apulia), southern Italy. A part of the town once belonged to the ''comune'' of ...

People

Aldo Moro Aldo Romeo Luigi Moro (; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and a prominent member of the Christian Democracy (DC). He served as prime minister of Italy from December 1963 to June 1968 and then from November 1974 to July 1 ...

(1916-1978), politician

References

{{Authority control Localities of Salento