Copertino (; historical en, Cupertino, italic=yes; scn, label= Salentino, Cupirtinu ), also known in English as Cupertino, is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Lecce The Province of Lecce ( it, Provincia di Lecce; Salentino: ) is a province in the Apulia region of Italy whose capital is the city of Lecce. The province is called the "Heel of Italy". Located on the Salento peninsula, it is the second most-p ...

in the Apulia region of south-east

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

History

Following

Charles of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) ...

's successful campaign in 1266, the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

tower of Copertino was held first by the de Pratis family and then by

Walter VI of Brienne Walter VI of Brienne (c. 1304 – 19 September 1356) was a French nobleman and crusader. He was the count of Brienne in France, the count of Conversano and Lecce in southern Italy and claimant to the Duchy of Athens in Frankish Greece. Life ...

Duke of Athens The Duchy of Athens ( Greek: Δουκᾶτον Ἀθηνῶν, ''Doukaton Athinon''; Catalan: ''Ducat d'Atenes'') was one of the Crusader states set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade as part of ...

Count of Lecce The County of Lecce was a semi-independent Italo-Norman entity in Apulia, in south-eastern Italy, which existed from 1055 until 1463. Its capital was at the city of Lecce, and it was bounded by the territories of Brindisi to the north, Oria and ...

and

Grand Constable of France The Constable of France (french: Connétable de France, from Latin for 'count of the stables') was lieutenant to the King of France, the first of the original five Great Officers of the Crown (along with seneschal, chamberlain, butler, and chan ...

. Copertino became the centre of a County under the Enghiens, who were sovereigns of the land of Galatone, Leverano and Veglie. With the marriage of

Mary of Enghien Mary of Enghien, also Maria d'Enghien (1367 or 1370 – 9 May 1446), was Countess of Lecce from 1384 to 1446 and Queen of Naples as well as titular Queen of Sicily, Jerusalem, and Hungary by marriage to Ladislaus of Naples from 1406 to 1414 ...

, Countess of Lecce and Copertino (later Queen of Naples and titular Queen of Sicily, Jerusalem, and Hungary) to

Raimondo del Balzo Orsini Raimondo Orsini del Balzo (also known as ''Raimondello''; 1350–55 – 17 January 1406) was a nobleman from the Kingdom of Naples. He was Count of Soleto (1382), Prince of Taranto (1399–1406), Duke of Bari, Grand Constable of the Kingdom of ...

, the county became part of the

principality of Taranto The Principality of Taranto was a state in southern Italy created in 1088 for Bohemond I, eldest son of Robert Guiscard, as part of the peace between him and his younger brother Roger Borsa after a dispute over the succession to the Duchy of Ap ...

. The French knight Tristan Chiaromonte (de Clermont-Lodeve) led the development of the county capital, having assumed power over the territory on his marriage to

Caterina Caterina is a feminine given name which is an Italian and Catalan form of the name ''Katherine''. Notable people with the name include: In music: * Caterina Assandra, Italian composer and Benedictine nun * Caterina Bueno, Italian singer and fo ...

, daughter of

. Tristan's daughter

Isabella of Clermont Isabella of Clermont ( – 30 March 1465), also known as Isabella of Taranto, was queen of Naples as the first wife of King Ferdinand I of Naples, and a feudatory of the kingdom as the holder and ruling Princess of the Principality of Taranto in ...

, heiress to the Brienne claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, married Ferdinand I of Naples. With the conquest of the

Salento Salento (Salentino: ''Salentu'', Salentino Griko: ''Σαλέντο'') is a cultural, historical and geographic region at the southern end of the administrative region of Apulia in Southern Italy. It is a sub-peninsula of the Italian Peninsula, ...

peninsula by the Aragonese dynasty, effected jointly by the Spanish army and knights from

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, the county was gifted in 1498 to Alfonso Castriota Scanderbeg, in gratitude for military support. The Princes of Belmonte gained the Castle through the Squarciafico Counts of Copertino, to whom the fief passed from 1557.

Copertino DOC

The area around Copertino is permitted to make red and '' rosé''

Italian DOC wine The following four classifications of wine constitute the Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; English: “designation of origin”), * ''Indicazione geografica tipi ...

. The grapes are limited to a harvest of 14 tonnes/ha with the finished wines needing a minimum of 12% alcohol. The wines are predominantly

Negroamaro Negroamaro (seldom Negro amaro; meaning "black ndbitter") is a red wine grape variety native to southern Italy. It is grown almost exclusively in Apulia and particularly in Salento, the peninsula which can be visualised as the "heel" of Italy. T ...

with no more than a 30% blend component of

Malvasia Malvasia (, also known as Malvazia) is a group of wine grape varieties grown historically in the Mediterranean region, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and the island of Madeira, but now grown in many of the winemaking regions of the world. ...

Montepulciano Montepulciano () is a medieval and Renaissance hill town and ''comune'' in the Italian province of Siena in southern Tuscany. It sits high on a limestone ridge, east of Pienza, southeast of Siena, southeast of Florence, and north of Rome b ...

and

Sangiovese Sangiovese (, also , , ) is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin ''sanguis Jovis'', "the blood of Jupiter". Though it is the grape of most of central Italy from Romagna down to Lazio (the most widespread grape ...

(which is further limited to a maximum of 15%). Wines labeled ''

Riserva Reserve wine is wine of a higher quality than usual, a wine that has been aged before sale, or both. Traditionally, winemakers would reserve some of their best wine rather than sell it immediately, coining the term. In some countries the use of t ...

'' must be aged for a minimum of 2 years prior to release and have a minimum alcohol level of 12.5%.P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pg 154 Firefly Books 2004

Main sights

Copertino Castle 250px, View of the bastions. The Copertino Castle ( it, Castello di Copertino) is a castle in Apulia, southern Italy. It is located in the eponymous city of Copertino, north of Gallipoli on the heel of Apulia, between Manduria and Galatina. Ove ...

, built by architect

Evangelista Menga Evangelista Menga ( 1480 – 1571) was an Italian military engineer. He was from Francavilla Fontana. As the military architect of Emperor Charles V, he designed the Castello di Copertino, the , the Castello di Mola di Bari, the Castello di P ...

in 1540 on a previous Norman and Angevin fortress, is one of the most massive fortifications in Apulia. *Sanctuary of St. Joseph of Copertino *Sanctuary and monastery of La Grottella

Twinnings

Cupertino Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,8 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

(named after St. Joseph of Copertino) *

Osimo Osimo is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche region of Italy, in the province of Ancona. The municipality covers a hilly area located approximately south of the port city of Ancona and the Adriatic Sea. , Osimo had a total population of 35,037. ...

, Italy *

Poggiardo Poggiardo ( Salentino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Italian province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-east Italy. An old Messapian town, Vaste, is located in its territory as a ''frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subd ...

, Italy

People

Joseph of Cupertino Joseph of Cupertino, OFM Conv. ( it, Giuseppe da Copertino; 17 June 1603 – 18 September 1663) was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar who is honored as a Christian mystic and saint. According to traditional Franciscan accounts, he was "rem ...

(1603–1663),

Christian mystic Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...

and saint. *

Cristina Conchiglia Cristina Conchiglia, married name Calasso (Brindisi, 4 January 1923 - Lecce, 5 May 2013), was an Italian trade unionist and politician. Leader of the Italian General Confederation of Labour and the Italian Communist Party. She was Mayor Emeritus ...

(1923-2013), trade unionist and politician, Mayor Emeritus of Copertino *

Giuliano Sangiorgi Giuliano Sangiorgi (born 24 January 1979 in Nardò, Lecce, Italy) is an Italian artist who has gained increasing fame as a singer, songwriter and composer, together with his rock band Negramaro. Career Giuliano is not only the writer and sing ...

(born 1979), singer of Negramaro. * (born 1939), Italian head chef. *

Graziano Pellè Graziano Pellè (; born 15 July 1985) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker. Pellè began his career at local Serie A club Lecce, and was loaned to three lower-division sides before moving to the Dutch club AZ in 2007 ...

(born 1985), footballer. * Adriano Pappalardo (born 1945), singer. * Beatrice Rana (born 1993), pianist.

References

{{authority control Cities and towns in Apulia Localities of Salento