Corigliano d'Otranto

	rain	Tmin C	Tmax C
Barletta-Andria-Trani		3.82°C	5.01°C

The municipality belongs to the so-called “Grecia Salentina” an area at the extreme southern tip of Apulia where so-called Grecanico is spoken a modern Greek dialect spoken in the former Magna Graecia. In addition to the traces of the Roman epoch still visible in the grid pattern of the streets, Corigliano also preserves remains of a protohistoric civilization: a specchia (mound of stones in conical form used for defence) in Serra and Murica and a temple dedicated to Vesta. The town witnessed significant development thanks to the Byzantine Cenoby of San Giorgio, which contained an important school that left numerous Greek codes now housed in major libraries.

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Of the city’s many historical-artistic sights worth seeing is the eighteenth century parish church of San Nicola, which has an impressive portal sculpted with Renaissance forms in 1573 and an unfinished bell tower from 1465. The Medieval Castello de’ Monti, renovated on the 16th century, with a square layout, four keeps at the corners and moat around it which withstood the Turkish assault in 1480 and was later modified in 1667 with the addition of a Baroque facade. Arco Lucchetti, a national monument, which leads into the courtyard of the same name, built in 1497 with three large blocks of limestone, represents the essence of local culture due to an inscription and the complex symbolism of the dense Byzantine-style engravings. The Torre Cumirri are unique and picturesque. They were built in 1500 in the neighbourhood of the same name as a lookout visually connected with the other towers on the Salento coast.

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Corigliano d'Otranto Castle

Galatina, Soleto, Corigliano

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Population:	5633
Province:	Lecce
Patron Saint:	S. Nicola (22 agosto)
Area Code:	0836
Town website:	www.comune.corigliano.le.it

Sources: By the editorial staff
Updated on: 09/09/2010

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