The day began at the beach, but it was windy, the surf was up, and snorkeling wasn't possible. After a shower back at the ranch we drove a half hour down the coast to the wonderful historic town Otranto. The town has a natural harbor that was used by early Greek seafarers, around 700 B.C. they founded the town Hydrus here, which later under the Romans was called Hydruntum. I guess you can see how Hydruntum became Otranto; it helps if you pronounce both as if you had your mouth full.
As usual in those parts, the town passed through many hands in the course of the centuries. In 1480 an event happened which left its mark on Otranto's history like the Chicago fire or the San Francisco earthquake. The town was attacked by a Turkish fleet with 90 galleys, 40 cargo ships and 18,000 soldiers. After a two-week siege Otranto was captured. 800 men who had fled to the cathedral and refused to convert to Islam were beheaded.
That's all far in the past, but I'll show you a few things in Otranto which show that the tragedy of 1480 is not forgotten. Just before the entrance to the old town you can see a monument to the martyrs of 1480.
The old town is entered through a gate in the massive town wall.
(To the left of the wall is a pizzeria, which will later find a place in this narrative.) The old town, as might be expected, is a labyrinth of charming narrow alleys and dead ends, going uphill. We visited the Castello at the the top of the old town, which was disappointing - they charged admission (which is reasonable enough), but there was actually little to see inside. At least we were rewarded with a fine view of the harbor.
After some searching we found the cathedral, which goes back to at least 1088. An impressive building, which is famous for its mosaic floor, conceived and laid out by the monk Pantaleone between 1163 and 1165. The figures show scenes from the Old Testament, historic figures, and scenes from everyday life. This gives a weak idea of the effect:
A side chapel, the Capella dei Martiri, exhibits the skeletal remains of the 800 martyrs, stacked up in several glass-fronted display cases. Gruesome and yet very moving:
After wandering around the old town for several hours on yet another warm, beautiful Puglian day, it was time for some refreshment. We thought it would be way to early to think about eating dinner (it was only around 6:30), but we thought a cold beer would tide us over until the restaurants would start serving food. We noticed an inviting bistro/restaurant where a few others where having a beer or cocktail outside, and sat down. As we were waiting to be served, we noticed the daily specials, including a reasonably-priced seafood antipasto. The waitress asked us if we wanted to eat dinner, "we haven't decided yet" was our answer. The beer tasted wonderful! Actually, we had been planning to go to the pizzeria outside the town walls mentioned above. But the ambiance was pleasant, and we decided we were to lazy to get up again. So we ordered dinner. Naturally starting with the seafood antipasto. The owner of the restaurant (I assume), a lady around 60, made a couple of suggestions for our main course. We accepted without thinking too much about it. The antipasto came, followed by the main dish, which was also fish. Of course we had wine with dinner. Everything was quite good. When the check came, we learned the useful lesson that it's a good idea to ask how expensive a recommended dish is - the total was 100 €!
As usual in those parts, the town passed through many hands in the course of the centuries. In 1480 an event happened which left its mark on Otranto's history like the Chicago fire or the San Francisco earthquake. The town was attacked by a Turkish fleet with 90 galleys, 40 cargo ships and 18,000 soldiers. After a two-week siege Otranto was captured. 800 men who had fled to the cathedral and refused to convert to Islam were beheaded.
That's all far in the past, but I'll show you a few things in Otranto which show that the tragedy of 1480 is not forgotten. Just before the entrance to the old town you can see a monument to the martyrs of 1480.The old town is entered through a gate in the massive town wall.
(To the left of the wall is a pizzeria, which will later find a place in this narrative.) The old town, as might be expected, is a labyrinth of charming narrow alleys and dead ends, going uphill. We visited the Castello at the the top of the old town, which was disappointing - they charged admission (which is reasonable enough), but there was actually little to see inside. At least we were rewarded with a fine view of the harbor.
After some searching we found the cathedral, which goes back to at least 1088. An impressive building, which is famous for its mosaic floor, conceived and laid out by the monk Pantaleone between 1163 and 1165. The figures show scenes from the Old Testament, historic figures, and scenes from everyday life. This gives a weak idea of the effect:
A side chapel, the Capella dei Martiri, exhibits the skeletal remains of the 800 martyrs, stacked up in several glass-fronted display cases. Gruesome and yet very moving:
After wandering around the old town for several hours on yet another warm, beautiful Puglian day, it was time for some refreshment. We thought it would be way to early to think about eating dinner (it was only around 6:30), but we thought a cold beer would tide us over until the restaurants would start serving food. We noticed an inviting bistro/restaurant where a few others where having a beer or cocktail outside, and sat down. As we were waiting to be served, we noticed the daily specials, including a reasonably-priced seafood antipasto. The waitress asked us if we wanted to eat dinner, "we haven't decided yet" was our answer. The beer tasted wonderful! Actually, we had been planning to go to the pizzeria outside the town walls mentioned above. But the ambiance was pleasant, and we decided we were to lazy to get up again. So we ordered dinner. Naturally starting with the seafood antipasto. The owner of the restaurant (I assume), a lady around 60, made a couple of suggestions for our main course. We accepted without thinking too much about it. The antipasto came, followed by the main dish, which was also fish. Of course we had wine with dinner. Everything was quite good. When the check came, we learned the useful lesson that it's a good idea to ask how expensive a recommended dish is - the total was 100 €!
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