Salice is located between the territories of Campi, Veglie, S. Pancrazio (BR) and Avetrana (TA), at the borderline between the provinces of Taranto and Brindisi. Located between the Principality of Taranto and the County of Lecce, Salice had a strategically important geographical position. It owes its name to the presence of an ancient forest that had a prevalence of salicaceous plants (willow trees, “salici” in Italian), as officially written for the first time in a Norman document of 1102. When its population and importance grew, Salice became a barony in 1294 and, among its first Barons, it had Pandolfo of the Aldemorisco family. In 1392, the feud was acquired by Raimondello Orsini Del Balzo, who built a massive castle here, later subdivided into several private properties. Since 1405 a sequence of feudatories controlled the settlement. After the Aragonese rule came the difficult Spanish viceroyalty period, during which plague and earthquakes terribly upset the population. In 1569, the feud was sold to Giovanni Antonio Albricci from Como, who transferred in Salice with his family in the "King’s Houses" and, in 1591, acquired the title of Marquis of Salice. After a series of Seignories, at the beginning of the seventeenth century the Spanish family Enriquez inherited the feud from the Bolano de Castilla. In 1749 the Filomarino-Enriquez family ruled Salice until 1845. During the unification of Italy, Arcangelo De Castris, town mayor since 1869, played a major role. Salice Salentino is also the brand name of a prestigious DOC (controlled denomination of origin) wine.
Among the most interesting artistic compounds, we mention the Friars Minor Convent, built between 1587 and 1597 by order of the Marquis Giovanni Antonio Albricci. An important architectural work worthwhile visiting is the Town Hall (1889). The interesting events are: the "Madonna della Visitazione" festival created by Gabriele Agostino Enriquez around 1662, repeated annually between June 30 and July 3 in the Franciscan Friar Minor Convent, with food, music shows and fireworks. A certainly exciting event is the pilgrimage to the “Cona” that takes place on July 3: the “Cona” is an old rural chapel that contains a precious fresco of the Virgin milking Baby Jesus. The date coincides with the feast of the Madonna of Milk, which has recently become an official holiday. In the past, the statue of St. Francis of Assisi was brought in procession to ask for protection from the drought.
On January 17, a fòcara, a big bonfire, is lit in the middle of the market square for the feast of St. Anthony the Abbot. The patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi, is celebrated on October 4 with a large procession where the statue of the Saint, a seventeenth-century paper-pulp replicate, is brought around the village streets. During the feast people eat the first wild chicory harvested from the fields dressed with pork meat sauce. The feast has reached its 37th edition. Another interesting artistic event is the Festival of Salice Songs, a musical event designed to promote young local talents, held in September.
Sources: By the editorial staff Updated on: 10/09/2010
Project created in collaboration with InnovaPuglia.
Regione Puglia
Regione Puglia