Washed by the Ionian Sea, Gallipoli rises on the west coast of Salento peninsula, in the Gulf of Taranto. The town is characterised by the division into two well-defined areas: the “old town” and the “new village“. The charming old town, full of ancient buildings and frescoes, stands on a calcareous island connected to the mainland by a masonry bridge. Around 1500 the mighty walls were built to face the enemy attacks, resized in height at the end of the 800, up to the current scenic road that, surrounding the entire island, allows you to enjoy fantastic sceneries (just a single fragment of the ancient walls still resists in good condition today).
Looking northward one can see a part of the Neretina (Nardò) coast, while to the south the bay formed by the Pizzo promontory is clearly visible. Near the coast, westward, we meet the Scoglio dei Piccioni, the islet of Campo and on particularly clear days we can see the profiles of the Sila mountains, while southwest we can see clearly the island of Sant’Andrea, place of a big lighthouse, built in 1866.
Crossing the bridge, we immediately meet the last bulwark of an ancient past, the oldest Greek-Roman fountain in Italy. You enter the “new village” where the drastic passage to modernity is marked by the “skyscraper”, placed at the entrance of Corso Roma, nerve street which divides the new city into two sections called “scirocco” and “tramontana”. The modern buildings have largely replaced the ones built between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The complex appears to be completely opposite to the old city; there are many shops and tourist facilities ready to welcome the approximately two hundred thousand visitors in summer months.
Certainly Gallipoli, in recent decades, has experienced a considerable building expansion and today it can be considered one of the most flourishing centres in Salento as well as a desired tourist destination, but it has not lost its suggestive call mainly represented by its enchanting views and the above images witness it.
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