Caprarica di Lecce is a small Salento town located at about 12 km from Lecce on the northern slopes of the Galugnano sierra. Some scholars, including Arditi, hold that the name of small town once was “capra-ricca” (rich goat). In fact, the main activity of its population was goat breeding for the production of milk, as depicted in the old town’s coat of arms that has a goat on top of a hill with a tree on the left and three five-pointed stars on the right separated by an inclined chequered strip overlapping a buckler on a light blue background. The coat of arms of the municipality recalls the events of the local history during the Seignory of Counts Guarino and Prince Prosperus Adorno.
Documentary evidence concerning the town date back to the XI century, when Caprarica was certainly ruled by the Normans with Geoffrey of Altavilla, King of Sicily and of the entire County of Lecce. Subsequently, there was a massive inflow of the Roca population fleeing from areas conquered by the Turks. Afterwards, the Orsini from Balzo took possession of the settlement, which later passed to the Princes Adorno in 1561, to the Giustiniani – who took the title of Marquis of Caprarica – and to the Barons Rossi, whose feudal castle is still preserved today.