Morciano di Leuca 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 ...

'' of 3,121 inhabitants 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 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 ...

History

The origins of Morciano di Leuca probably go back to the 9th century AD, with the destruction of the city by the Saracens. In 1190 king

Tancred of Sicily Tancred ( it, Tancredi; 113820 February 1194) was King of Sicily from 1189 to 1194. He was born in Lecce an illegitimate son of Roger III, Duke of Apulia (the eldest son of King Roger II) by his mistress Emma, a daughter of Achard II, Count o ...

gave Sinibaldo Sambiasi the fief of Morciano, which remained under his family until the 13th century. Later it was acquired by other barons, including

Walter VI of Brienne Walter VI of Brienne (c. 1304 – 19 September 1356) was a French nobleman and crusader. He was the count of Brienne in France, the count of Conversano and Lecce in southern Italy and claimant to the Duchy of Athens in Frankish Greece. Life ...

(1335).

Main sights

*Castle, built by order of

in the early 14th century *Mother Church of San Giovanni Elemosiniere (16th century) *Church of the Carmine (c. 1486) *Coastal watchtower of Torre Vado (16th century)

References

Cities and towns in Apulia Localities of Salento {{Puglia-geo-stub