Zollino (

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. ;

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 small 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 2,194 inhabitants in the province 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 ...

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

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 one of the nine towns of

Grecìa Salentina Grecìa Salentina (Griko for " Salentine Greece") is an area in the peninsula of Salento in southern Italy, near the town of Lecce which is inhabited by the Griko people, an ethnic Greek minority in southern Italy who speak Griko, a variant of ...

, which still keeps Greek language and traditions.

History

Zollino's territory was settled in pre-historic times, as attested by the presence of

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 in the area. Its foundation origin is not clear: it could be an

Iapygian The Iapygians or Apulians (; el, Ἰάπυγες, ''Ĭāpyges''; la, Iāpyges, Iapygii, Umbrian ''Iabuscer'') were an Indo-European-speaking people, dwelling in an eponymous region of the southeastern Italian Peninsula named Iapygia (modern Ap ...

colony from the nearby Apigliano, or a rural offshoot of

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 ...

. In historical ancient times it was an important trade centre between the Ionian and the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

coasts. In the Middle Ages, it belonged to the

county of Lecce The County of Lecce was a semi-independent Italo-Norman entity in Apulia, in south-eastern Italy, which existed from 1055 until 1463. Its capital was at the city of Lecce, and it was bounded by the territories of Brindisi to the north, Oria and N ...

founded by the Hauteville Normands. 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 ...

donated it to Berlinghiero Chiaromonte. After belonging to the

Principality 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 ...

, in 1463 it became a possession of Raimondello Orsini del Balzo. Afterwards the latter's death Zollino was again a direct royal possession and, later, a fief of the Granafei marquisses of

Sternatia Sternatia (Griko: , translit. ) is a small town and ''comune'' in the province of Lecce, Apulia, southern Italy. It is one of the nine towns of Grecìa Salentina where the greek dialect Griko Griko, sometimes spelled Grico, is the dialect of It ...

Main sights

* Mother Church of Saints Peter and Paul * Menhir S. Anna * Menhir "Stazione" * Dolmen "Cranzari" * The hypogeum oil mill * Church of S. Anna * ''Pozzelle'' * Church of Saint Joseph * Statue of Martin Zoleno * Church of Madonna of Loreto

Transportation

Zollino has a station on the

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

and Zollino-

Gagliano del Capo Gagliano del Capo (Salentino: ) is an Italian comune situated in the province of Lecce, the southernmost one of Apulia. In its territory is located Ciolo, a rocky cove that is part of the Regional Natural Coastal Park of "Costa Otranto-Santa Mari ...

railroads, served by the

Ferrovie del 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 ...

. By road, it can be reached through the Lecce-

Maglie Maglie ( Salentino: ; Griko: , translit. ; la, Mallae) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-east Italy. History The Maglie area was settled as early as the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age, and befor ...

SS16 Adriatica state road.

References

Grecìa Salentina Localities of Salento {{Puglia-geo-stub