Alezio (; ) is a town and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' in the

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 Ap ...

in the

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 Ot ...

region of south-east

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

Alezio (despite legend assigning its foundation to a king of Crete) was a centre of the Messapi, who would call it ''Alytia'' like their former capital in

Acarnania Acarnania () is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today it forms the western part ...

. According to

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

, the Aletines descended instead from the Iapyges, who descended by the

Oscans The Osci (also called Oscans, Opici, Opsci, Obsci, Opicans) were an Italic people of Campania and Latium adiectum before and during Roman times. They spoke the Oscan language, also spoken by the Samnites of Southern Italy. Although the language ...

. It is mentioned as ''Baletium'' in the Peutingerian Table (4th century AD). It was a stop on the Via Traiana, who connected ancient Apulia to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Around the year 1000, Alezio was destroyed by the

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...

s, its inhabitants moving to the

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

island. It remained deserted until the 12th-13th centuries, when a church dedicated to Santa Maria della Alizza or della Lizza was built by some Basilian monks. The new Casal d'Alezio, built around it, remained a small village until the 18th century. It was called Villa Picciotti from the 18th century until 1873, when the Messapic name was restored.

Alezio DOC

Within Alezio is a region that produces red and ''

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

'' DOC wines that are a blend with up to 20% Negroamaro, plus Sangiovese,

Malvasia Malvasia (), also known as Malvazia, is a group of wine grape varieties grown historically in the Mediterranean region and Macaronesia, but now grown in many of the winemaking regions of the world. In the past, the names Malvasia, Malvazia, ...

and Montepulciano.

Harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

yields are limited to 14 tonnes/ha. The wines are aged for a minimum of 2 years prior to release and must contain a minimum alcohol level of 12.5%.P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' p. 119 Firefly Books 2004

Main sights

*The Civic Museum of the Messapi, inaugurated in 1982, is a national monument of Italy. It houses remains from Messapic necropolises outside Alezio (4th-3rd centuries BC). *The Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Lizza, usually considered to be built in the 12th-13th centuries, although remains of a Byzantine-style fresco could date its foundation to some two centuries before. The remains of the frescoes, which once covered the whole interior, span a range of time from the 10th and the 16th century. Most of them dealt with stories of the life of the Virgin Mary. *Messapian Necropolis, an ancient messapian necropolis, located in Monte Delia area, found by archaeological excavations.

Transportation

Alezio is served by a railway station of the Ferrovie Sud-Est, which also holds several bus services in the area.

References

{{authority control Cities and towns in Apulia Localities of Salento