2. The Adriatic Coast – from San Cataldo to Castro

S. Cataldo. Only 8 miles from Lecce, this beach is summer call for people from the city. The site was a Roman settlement and port, Porto Adriano; 500 meters off the shore, there are the ruins of a Roman building called "submerged church".
San Foca. A fishermen village in the past, it has become in the last decades a major tourist attraction of the Adriatic coast; after visiting the watch tower and the 17th century chapel (dedicated to Saints Foca, Pietro and Andrea, with remarkable frescos inside) a stop is worth at the Grotta dell’Amore (Love Cave).
Torre dell'Orso and Sant’Andrea. Torre dell’Orso is famous in Salento for Le Due Sorelle (The Two Sisters), two stunning huge twin cliffs emerging from the sea, close to the shore. Because of the coastal erosion, we can admire wonderful natural sculptures plunging in the sea. This area is very well organized and equipped with bathing facilities, restaurants and resorts.
Alimini Lakes. These two lakes are a fauna and game reserve, rich of rare varieties of Mediterranean vegetation.

Otranto. The major tourist center on the Adriatic coast, Otranto is a village that seems to materialize from an old gothic novel. Its marvelous castle inspired a timeless masterpiece of gothic literature, The Castle of Otranto, by H. Walpole. Otranto, the ancient Hidruntum, was probably founded by Greek colonists from the island of Crete later became a Roman municipality. Tourism is constantly developing, thanks to the landscape, beaches and new hotel facilities. Otranto has preserved through time its distinctive historic center, charming with its houses painted with bright colors, and encircled by the fortifications which face the southern side of its natural harbor. The modern town, on the other hand, has mainly grown up along the coast and in the immediate hinterland, towards the hills of Monte Carlo Magno and Minerva, beautiful panoramic position from which the whole city below is overlooked together with the channel which bears its name. This Channel of Otranto, 45 miles wide, runs between Cape Otranto and Cape Linguetta in Albania. The stupendous Cathedral built in 1080-88, has rich signs of an eastern influence both in its architecture and its decorations. Not far from from the town are the Gothic ruins of the San Nicola di Casole Abbey, founded in 900 AD, and destroyed by the Turks in their 1480 occupation. The Alfonsina Tower dates back to 1483, and the greater part of the turreted Walls and the castle also date back to the fifteenth century. The Castle was built by Ferdinand of Aragon between 1485 and 1498; it has a square plan with cylindrical towers at the corners, and it is partly surrounded by the traditional moat. The doorway on the left hand side of the Cathedral and the octagonal well in the courtyard of the adjacent seminary date back to the Renaissance period. The Church of San Francesco di Paola (or Santa Maria dei Martiri) which was built as a memorial to the citizens slain by the Turks in the 1480's dates back to the 16th century.
Porto Badisco.This impressive and charming bay, mentioned in the Aeneid, is few miles away from Otranto. According the myth this is the place where Aeneas landed in Italy for the first time.
Santa Cesarea Terme. A well-known thermal baths and spa center, it rises vertically on the reefs facing a crystal-clear and blue sea. Sheltered from cold winds by a barrier of small hills and heights, Santa Cesarea enjoys all year long a pleasant climate, almost springy-like in winter and fresh in summer, which grows mild thanks to a sea-breeze. The air is sweet-smelling, rich in iodine and ozone coming from the sea which becomes rough owing to the winds. For this reason Santa Cesarea is peopled also in winter by tourists who need to restore their energies. The Baths, very well equipped for bathing and mud-bath treatments, inhalations and vaporizations, are rich in sulphur, sodium and chlorine containing waters as also in iodide and lithium-base waters with a temperature of about 85°F.
Castro. A charming little village with a Medieval imprint best exemplified by the castle and former 12th-century cathedral. Castro is famous for its beautiful cliffs diving into green crystal green water. South of Castro, the Zinzulusa and Romanelli grottos represent a must stop and visit. The first one, due to its stalactites and stalagmites is one of the most spectacular in Italy - very interesting from a geo-archaeological artistic and faunistic point of view. It is exactly from the faunistic point of view that this grotto is considered unique in Europe, since rare pre-historical fauna live there (the "Typhlocaris Salentina" and the "Spelaeomysis Bottazzi"). The name of the grotto originates from a dialect word: zinzuli which means "fringes", as the calcareous concretions lowering down from the vaults do look like fringes. Romanelli grotto is important for its relevant scientific contents: traces were found of the human presence since the Palaeolithic and up to the metal age, witnessed by peculiar graffiti, and also many remains of extraordinary extinguished animals from a warm fauna, more common in the mountain than in the actual climate of Salento (hippos, rhinos and elephants).