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Salento
Salento (; Salentino dialect, Salentino: ''Salentu''; Griko language, Salento Griko: ) is a Cultural area, cultural, List of historical states of Italy, 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, sometimes described as the "heel" of the Italian "boot". It encompasses the entire Local government, administrative area of the Province of Lecce, most of the Province of Brindisi (all of it except Fasano, Ostuni and Cisternino), and the south-eastern part of the Province of Taranto (like Grottaglie and Avetrana, but not Taranto itself). Etymology In ancient times the peninsula was named ''Sallentina'', or ''Messapia''. To this peninsula the term ''Calabria'' was originally applied during the ancient Roman and early Byzantine era, but since 580 the administrative scope of ''Calabrian'' province was gradually expanded towards western regions, encompassing ancient Brutti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apulia
Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Otranto and Ionian Sea to the southeast and the Gulf of Taranto to the south. The region comprises , and has 3,874,166 inhabitants as of 2025. It is bordered by the other Italian regions of Molise to the north, Campania to the west, and Basilicata to the southwest. The regional capital is Bari. In ancient times, more precisely at the beginning of the first millennium BC, the region of Apulia was inhabited by the Iapygians, while during the 8th century BC its coastal areas were populated by Magna Graecia, ancient Greeks. Later, the region was conquered by the ancient Romans. It was then conquered by the Byzantine Empire, Byzantines, followed by the Normans, the Kingdom of Aragon, Aragonese and the Spanish Empire, Spanish. Subsequently, it bec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salentino Dialect
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 Extreme Southern Italian language group (). It is thus closer to the Southern Calabrian dialect and the dialects of Sicily than to the geographically less distant dialects of central and northern Apulia (like Tarantino, Barese and Foggiano). The traditional areas where Salentino is spoken are the province of Lecce, much of the southern part of the province of Brindisi, and the southern part of the province of Taranto. History The Salentino dialect is a product of the different powers and/or populations that have had a presence in the peninsula over the centuries: indigenous Messapian, Ancient Greek, Roman, Byzantine Greek, Lombard, French and Spanish influences are all, to differing levels, present in the modern dialect, b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iapygians
The Iapygians or Apulians () were an Indo-European-speaking people, dwelling in an eponymous region of the southeastern Italian Peninsula named Iapygia (modern Apulia) between the beginning of the first millennium BC and the first century BC. They were divided into three tribal groups: the Daunians, Peucetians and Messapians. They spoke Messapic, a language of Paleo-Balkan provenance. After their lands were gradually colonized by the Romans from the late 4th century onward and eventually annexed to the Roman Republic by the early 1st century BC, Iapygians were fully Latinized and assimilated into Roman culture. Name The region was known to the Greeks of the 5th century BC as ''Iapygía'' (), and its inhabitants as the ''Iápyges'' (Ἰάπυγες). It was probably the term used by the indigenous peoples to designate themselves. The name ''Iapyges'' has also been compared to that of the '' Iapydes'', an Illyrian tribe of northern Dalmatia. Some ancient sources treat Iapy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Griko Language
Griko (endonym: /), sometimes spelled Grico, is one of the two dialects of Italiot Greek (the other being Calabrian Greek or ), spoken by Griko people in Salento, province of Lecce, Italy. Some Greek linguists consider it to be a Modern Greek dialect and often call it () or (). Griko and Standard Modern Greek are partially mutually intelligible. Classification The most popular hypothesis on the origin of Griko is the one by Gerhard Rohlfs and Georgios Hatzidakis, that Griko's roots go as far back in history as the time of the ancient Greek colonies in Southern Italy and Sicily in the eighth century BC. The Southern Italian dialect is thus considered to be the last living trace of the Greek elements that once formed Magna Graecia. There are, however, competing hypotheses according to which Griko may have preserved some Doric elements, but its structure is otherwise mostly based on Koine Greek, like almost all other Modern Greek dialects. Thus, Griko should rather be desc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calabria
Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. It has 1,832,147 residents as of 2025 across a total area of . Catanzaro is the region's capital. Calabria is the birthplace of the name of Italy, given to it by the Ancient Greeks who settled in this land starting from the 8th century BC. They established the first cities, mainly on the coast, as Greek colonisation, Greek colonies. During this period Calabria was the heart of Magna Graecia, home of key figures in history such as Pythagoras, Herodotus and Milo of Croton, Milo. In Roman times, it was part of the ''Regio III Lucania et Bruttii'', a region of Roman Italy, Augustan Italy. After the Gothic War (535–554), Gothic War, it became and remained for five centuries a Byzantine empire, Byzantine dominion, fully recove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greek Language
Greek (, ; , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic languages, Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), southern Albania, and other regions of the Balkans, Caucasus, the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the list of languages by first written accounts, longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet, which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with the epics of Homer, ancient Greek literature includes many works of lasting importance in the European canon. Greek is also the language in which many of the foundational texts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grottaglie
Grottaglie (; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in the province of Taranto, Apulia, in southern Italy. Geography Grottaglie is located in the Salento peninsula, dividing the Adriatic Sea from Ionian Sea. The countryside around the city is scattered with vast and deep ravines in the limestone that underlies the peninsula. The urban core of Grottaglie is surrounded by these ravines. History There is evidence of settlement in the region since the Paleolithic era. The name Grottaglie derives from the Latin ''Cryptae Aliae'', meaning "many ravines". The ancestral part of the town was one of the citadels in the area, referred to in Medieval documents as ''Casale Cryptalerum'', founded by locals sheltering in the caves of the ravines due to coastal Saracen raids. The fief of Grottaglie was donated by the Norman overlords to the archbishopric of Taranto in the 11th century. In the 14th century the ecclesiastic administration provided the fief with fortifications, walls, a fortress kno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cisternino
Cisternino is a ''comune'' in the province of Brindisi in Apulia, on the coast of south-eastern Italy, approximately north-west of the city of Brindisi. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). Its main economic activities are tourism, the growing of olives and grapes, and dairy farming. Cisternino sits in a historic zone of Itria Valley (in Italian: '' Valle d'Itria''), known for its prehistoric conical, dry stone houses called trulli, which are preserved under UNESCO safeguards due to their cultural significance, dry stone walls (''muretti a secco''), and its fertile soil which makes it the home of the Salento wine region. In 2014, Cisternino was declared the Cittaslow City of the Year. Main sights The architecture is typical of the region with an old Centro Storico (Historical Centre) containing white-washed, stone buildings with cool, shaded, cave-like interiors, narrow streets and churches. The town also features several communi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ostuni
Ostuni (; ) is a city and ''comune'', located about 8 km from the coast, in the province of Brindisi, region of Apulia, Italy. The town has a population of about 32,000 during the winter, but can swell to 200,000 inhabitants during summer, being among the main towns attracting tourists in Apulia. It also has a continuous British and German immigrant community and an industrial zone. The region is a producer of high quality olive oil and wine. History The region around Ostuni has been inhabited since the Stone Age. The town is reputed to have been originally established by the Messapii, a pre-classic tribe, and was nearly completely destroyed by Hannibal during the Punic Wars. Later it was re-built by the Romans. Little is also known about the etymology of the name Ostuni. According to one theory, the name could derive from Messapic. Others think it derives from the Greek ''Astu néon'' ("new town"). It could derive from the Latin ''Hostium Unio'', which indicates "a gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fasano
Fasano (; Bari dialect, Barese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Brindisi, Apulia, southern Italy. It is the second most populated town in the province after Brindisi, with a population in 2021 of 39,026. History According to a folk etymology, the name Fasano derives from the "Faso", a large wild columbus dove (also represented on the civic coat of arms) which drank from the ''fogge'', which was a type of swamp or pool in the open air formed from the water that flowed down from the surrounding hills. This area where the pool once was is now a communal garden. Appian Way, Via Appia, the road from Brindisi to Rome during ancient times, runs along Fasano's ''costal frazioni'', including Savelletri and is visible today. Geography Fasano marks the border between the Salento and the Metropolitan City of Bari. It is about from all three of the provincial capitals in Apulia, namely Bari, Taranto and Brindisi. The municipality borders Alberobello (Metropolitan City of Bari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taranto
Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans in the 8th century BC during the period of Greek colonisation, Taranto was among the most important '' poleis'' in Magna Graecia, becoming a cultural, economic and military power that gave birth to philosophers, strategists, writers and athletes such as Archytas, Aristoxenus, Livius Andronicus, Heracleides, Iccus, Cleinias, Leonidas, Lysis and Sosibius. By 500 BC, the city was among the largest in the world, with a population estimated up to 300,000 people. The seven-year rule of Archytas marked the apex of its development and recognition of its hegemony over other Greek colonies of southern Italy. During the Norman period, it became the capital of the Principality of Taranto, which covered almost all of the heel of Apulia. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Province Of Lecce
The province of Lecce (; Salentino: ) is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lecce. The province is called the "Heel of Italy". Located on the Salento peninsula, it is the second most-populous province in Apulia and the 21st most-populous province in Italy. The province occupies an area of and has a total population of 802,807 (2016). There are 97 ''comuni'' (: ''comune'') in the province. It is surrounded by the provinces Taranto and Brindisi in the northwest, the Ionian Sea in the west, and the Adriatic Sea in the east. This location has established it as a popular tourist destination. It has been ruled by the Romans, Byzantine Greeks, Carolingians, Lombards, and Normans. The important towns are Lecce, Gallipoli, Nardò, Maglie, and Otranto. Its important agricultural products are wheat and corn. Lecce stone extracted from the province has been used to decorate several historical monuments and is widely used for interior decoration. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
