Ceglie Messapica (; scn, label= Brindisino, Cégghie) 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 ...

'', located in the

province of Brindisi The Province of Brindisi ( it, Provincia di Brindisi) is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Brindisi. It has an area of and a total population of 401,652 (2013). Geography The Province of Brindisi is situated ...

and region of Apulia, in southern

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 ...

, in the traditional area called

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 Peninsul ...

Geography

The area of Ceglie Messapica is located between the Murge and the Upper

: its typical elements include trulli, farms, lamie (typical southern single room square dwellings), rupestrian churches, Carsic caves, dolinas, specchie and paretoni (remains of city walls), dry-stone walls, olive groves, vineyards,

maquis shrub 220px, Low maquis in Corsica 220px, High ''macchia'' in Sardinia ( , , ) or ( , ; often in Italian; hr, makija; ; ) is a shrubland biome in the Mediterranean region, typically consisting of densely growing evergreen shrubs. Maquis is char ...

, ancient oak trees, cattle pastures and arable land.

History

According to legend, it was founded by the Pelasgi, to whom belonged the

megalithic A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

structures known as '' specchie''. After the arrival of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

colonists around 700 BC, it received the name of ''Kailìa'' ( grc-gre, Καιλία; la, Caelia ). Nearby the village were extraurban sanctuaries dedicated to the God

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

(near the modern church of San Rocco) and

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

(on the Montevicoli hill). The city was the military capital of the

Messapi The Messapians ( grc, Μεσσάπιοι, Messápioi; la, Messapii) were a Iapygian tribe who inhabited Salento in classical antiquity. Two other Iapygian tribes, the Peucetians and the Daunians, inhabited central and northern Apulia respectivel ...

(the civil capital being located in the nearby Oria), and fought against the Greek city

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label=Tarantino dialect, Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an ...

in the latter's attempt to gain a passage to the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

. The Messapic Ceglie had some 40,000 inhabitants. In Roman times it was already decaying, and in the Middle Ages was a small village known as ''Celie de Galdo'', with a little castle. After several minor families, in 1584 its fief was given to the

Sanseverino * Sanseverino (family): The Sanseverino are one of the historical families most famous in the Kingdom of Naples and all of Italy, having 300 strongholds, 40 counties, nine marquisates, twelve duchies and ten principalities primarily distributed in C ...

family, who enlarged the castle and founded two convents for the Capuchines (now disappeared) and for the Dominicans.

Main sights

Numerous archaeological remains of the ancient Messapi civilization were found in Ceglie's area. It had four lines of walls, the inner one having a perimeter of . The external one had high fortifications known as ''specchie'', which could be up to and in diameter.

Events

*The Procession and Feast of

Saint Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua ( it, Antonio di Padova) or Anthony of Lisbon ( pt, António/Antônio de Lisboa; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. He was b ...

, on 13 June. *The Procession and Feast of

Saint Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327, also called Rock in English, is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked ...

, on 17 August. *Ceglie Food Festival, dedicated to gastronomy, on August *Coppa Messapica, cycling race in the Itria valley

Gallery

File:Paesaggio di Ceglie Messapica.jpg, Panoramic view File:Piazza Plebiscito - Ceglie Messapica.jpg, Plebiscite square File:Collegiata di Ceglie Messapica - Facciata.jpg, Collegiate church File:Chiesa di San Domenico, altare della Presentazione al Tempio di Gesù.JPG, Baroque altar in the church of Saint Domenico File:Chiesa di San Rocco di Ceglie Messapica.jpg, Church of Saint Roch File:Abbazia di Sant'Anna di Ceglie Messapica.JPG, Abbey of Saint Anna File:Processione di Sant'Antonio - Ceglie Messapica.JPG, Procession of Saint Anthony File:Piazza Plebiscito di Ceglie Messapica durante la Festa Patronale.jpg, Patronal feast with illuminations File:Ceramica Messapica - Centro Documentazione Archeologica Ceglie Messapica.jpg, Messapian archaeological finds found in Ceglie File:Sala Grotte di Montevicoli Ceglie Messapica.JPG, Montevicoli caves File:Teatro Comunale - Ceglie Messapica.jpeg, municipal theater File:Albero di Olea Europea - Ceglie Messapica (Puglia).jpg, centuries-old olive tree in the countryside File:Biscotto di Ceglie.jpg, "Biscotto cegliese", typical

almond paste Almond paste is made from ground almonds or almond meal and sugar in equal quantities, with small amounts of cooking oil, beaten eggs, heavy cream or corn syrup added as a binder. It is similar to ''marzipan'', but has a coarser texture. Almond ...

biscuits, Slow Food presidium

References

; Notes

External links

Ceglie Messapica -Salento high coast of the trulli

Ceglie Messapica - Town of the ancient world

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