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Oria, in the province of Brindisi, is located in the northernmost part of the Salento, halfway between Taranto and Brindisi, almost sought-after by the two seas which surround Apulia. A very important tourism center, the city boasts very ancient origins: according to Herodotus a group of Cretans from Minos founded Oria in 1200 BC, when they were shipwrecked on Ionian beaches during a storm and later moved to the highlands in the interior. The city was a Roman municipium and later under the Greeks, Longobards and Byzantines, becoming the theatre of many battles and undergoing sieges and attacks. At the beginning of the 13th century, the emperor Fredrick II declared the city state property and began massive fortification work which culminated with the construction of a castle in the highest part of the city. In 1572 the feud of Oria became the property of San Carlo Borromeo. Later a slow decline started which had the worst consequences in the historical part of the city which slowly fell into ruins. Subsequent restoration work brought the city back to its old splendour.