Galatina ( el, label=

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, ...

, Ας Πέτρο, As Pètro; scn, label= Salentino, San Pietru), known before the unification of Italy as San Pietro in Galatina, 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 Apulia, 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 ...

. It is situated about south of the city of Lecce.

Main sights

*The late Romanesque church of ''Santa Caterina d'Alessandria'', built in 1390 by

Raimondello del Balzo Orsini Raimondo Orsini del Balzo (also known as ''Raimondello''; 1350–55 – 17 January 1406) was a nobleman from the Kingdom of Naples. He was Count of Soleto (1382), Prince of Taranto (1399–1406), Duke of Bari, Grand Constable of the Kingdom of ...

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Soleto Soleto (Griko: ; Salentino: ; la, Soletum) is a small Griko-speaking city located in the province of Lecce in Apulia, Italy. The town has a total population of 5,542 and is one of the nine towns of Grecìa Salentina where the greek dialect Griko ...

, with a fine portal and rose window. The interior contains frescoes by Francesco d'Arezzo (1435). The

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

contains the fine mausoleum of the son of the founder, a canopy supported by four columns, with his statue beneath it. *The Baroque church of San Pietro (also known as Mother Church), rebuilt from 1633 on a previous Greek-rite edifice. *The ''Pupa'', a fountain in local

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

In the neighbourhood is the small church of San Paolo. It houses a well which, according to tradition, was able to heal people bitten by poisonous tarantulas (those bitten are called ''tarantati'' or ''pizzicati'' in the local dialect).

Transportation

Galatina has a station on 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 was ...

line to Lecce. Road connections include the SS16 Adriatica state highway, the SS101 state road, also to Lecce, and the SS 613 Brindisi-Lecce highway.

Energy

Near Galatina is the static inverter plant of

HVDC Italy-Greece A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating curre ...

Twin towns

* Novi Grad, Bosnia-Herzegovina, since 1997 *

Sapes Sapes ( el, Σάπες) is a town and a former municipality in the Rhodope regional unit, East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Maroneia-Sapes, of which it is the seat and a munic ...

, Greece, since 1999

Notes

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