The best walks and hikes around Gallipoli

The Basilica Cattedrale Santa Agatha in the middle of the old town of Gallipoli opens at 4 p.m. It displays wonderful frescoes, columns, and a very special ceiling painting.

The Angevine-Aragonese Castle is the gateway to the old town of Gallipoli, which lies on an island off the mainland and is connected by a bridge. Worth seeing

Historic castle by the sea, ideal as a passage point and panoramic stop.

Shopping miles are popular destinations on vacation.

The Basilica Cathedral of Sant’Agata – located in the historic center of Gallipoli – is a structure in the Lecce Baroque style whose construction dates back to the period of the Counter-Reformation in which baroque and sumptuous themes were the rule. In fact, it was built from 1629 to 1696 and the project is the work of the Gallipoli architect Giovan Bernardino Genuino. The Cathedral stands on the same site where a small church once stood in the Middle Ages that was destroyed in the 17th century. The facade of the Basilica is in carparo and is adorned with statues and decorations that recall those of Giuseppe Zimbalo, known as Zingarello, the most important and imitated sculptor of the Lecce Baroque to whom all the artists and the local style of the time referred. There are the statues of San Fausto, Santa Teresa D’Avila, Sant’Agata and San Sebastiano

It is one of the oldest public libraries in the Salento area due to its provenance, variety, dating of rare and valuable volumes as well as the peculiarity of the origin of its container (former Oratory of the Nobles of the 18th century). In 1823 the canon and dean of the capitulary Carmine Fontò (1754 -1825) through a public act wanted to donate his library, rich in about three thousand volumes, to the Ionian city that had a more than thousand-year-old cultural tradition behind it. Another substantial donation was then made by Bartolomeo Ravenna (1761 - 1826), whose private library consisted of historical, scientific, literary and artistic works. In 1987 part of this book heritage was transferred to the current location in via S. Angelo from the museum where, instead, many volumes remain preserved. Also in the S. Angelo headquarters are located all the texts that concern the history, culture, economy of Gallipoli, the incunabula, the manuscripts, the sixteenth and seventeenth century books that came from the suppression of the monasteries of the Dominicans, the Capuchins and the Reformed and the Ettore Vernole, Sebastiano Natali and Giuseppe Duma funds. Among the manuscripts it is interesting to mention La voce degli olii 1789 – 1821, a paper manuscript containing documents and acts of the voce degli olii, the Red Book of Gallipoli I, including the royal privileges to the city and the Red Book II, copies of royal diplomas and papal bulls in favor of Gallipoli. The library is an important point of reference for the knowledge of the culture of Salento as well as being home to a vast book heritage. It promotes numerous cultural initiatives: conference cycles, presentations of volumes, conventions and exhibitions as well as being able to take books to read completely free of charge

One of the most beautiful beaches on the Ionian coast of Salento. Nestled between the rocks

The oldest fountain in Europe... until proven otherwise. Given its fragility (soft Lecce stone and carparo) it is a shame that it is always attacked by atmospheric agents.