For your holidays in Salento…Tenuta Masseria Chicco Rizzo to discover the ancient pleasure of being in contact with nature
After a traditional day spent on the beach by the breathtaking waters of the Ionian or the Adriatic, the afternoon calls for a rest, lulled by the song of the cicadas. But if you don’t want to waste the precious hours of the holiday, the ideal solution might be to go for an unusual walk of discovery of the wonderful stately villas completely surrounded by vegetation that stand along some of the most beautiful and interesting stretches of the Salento coastline.
There are a great many examples in this area of rural architecture that evolved from functional simplicity to increasingly articulated and imposing structures as the nineteenth century gave way to the twentieth. On the Ionian coast, the towns of Nardò, Galatone, Sannicola and Alezio in particular bear the signs of the dynamics of this process managed by the local landowning aristocracy and the wealthy merchant classes.
On the Adriatic coast, meanwhile, pride of place must necessarily go to the villas of Santa Cesarea Terme and Santa Maria di Leuca, also built as the nineteenth century set and the twentieth dawned, by the rich middle classes and aristocracy of the Salento, who had chosen these two seaside towns as their favourite resorts. The villas were built in a variety of styles, including Ionian, Neo-Gothic, the French style, Moorish, Tuscan and Pompeiian.
Make sure you don’t miss the stately villas and the entrances to the palatial town houses of Lecce. Lecce is a city worth visiting by both night and day, especially for its churches. Everywhere you look, the ochre tones of the local Lecce stone have been used to create the masterpieces of Lecce baroque.
Another thing you should certainly not miss is the chance to visit Nardò, Otranto and Gallipoli.
The fact is that all of the Salento is beautiful: everywhere you go, you will find breathtaking views in even the tiniest settlements, like Presiccie or the little villages of the Salento Greece.
The local stone, our nature, the sea and our mild climate will make your holiday here one to remember.
