OTRANTO

Otranto, the more city to East of Italy, is the small jewel of Salento. Its historical centre, composed from tangled roads and characteristic alleys, climb it on a small hill, on whose summit rises the Cathedral Basilica, to whose inside there is a mosaic pave that is the true treasure of Otranto.
The mosaic, in fact, is one among the greatest and interesting of Europe; it was realized by Fra Pantaleone and it is considered the Bible of the poor men because in it the Old Testament is represented and it is an example of synthesis and integration among the culture Jewish-Christian, that Byzantine and that Arab. Many are the international researchers that still try to decipher the real meanings of a really unique work in the world artistic panorama.
It thinks that even the same Dante, in his continuous exile trips, has taken inspiration to write his Divine Comedy.

To Visit: the Cathedral in Romanesque style, with the attached crypt and above all the mosaic pave of Fra' Pantaleone; the angioino castle (where has took place the first novel "horror" of the history, "The Castle of Otranto" of Horace Walpole), and the Byzantine church of St. Pietro containing interesting frescos always of Byzantine epoch.