240px, Loggia of Palazzo Covelli De Marco. Maruggio (; ) is a village and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' in the

province of Taranto The province of Taranto (; Tarantino: ; Salentino: ), previously known as the province of the Ionian, is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Taranto. It has an area of , and a total population of 581,092 (2017). ...

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

, southeast

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The village is located in a natural depression from the

Gulf of Taranto The Gulf of Taranto (; Tarantino: ; ) is a gulf of the Ionian Sea, in Southern Italy. The Gulf of Taranto is almost square, long and wide, making it the largest gulf in Italy, and it is delimited by the capes Santa Maria di Leuca (to the eas ...

, in the north-west part of

Salento Salento (; Salentino dialect, Salentino: ''Salentu''; Griko language, Salento Griko: ) is a Cultural area, cultural, List of historical states of Italy, historical, and geographic region at the southern end of the administrative region of Apuli ...

peninsula and it's one of the villages of South Italy where the Greek dialect

Griko Griko (endonym: /), sometimes spelled Grico, is one of the two dialects of Italiot Greek (the other being Calabrian Greek or ), spoken by Griko people in Salento, province of Lecce, Italy. Some Greek linguists consider it to be a Modern Greek ...

is spoken. The nearest villages are Torricella at ,

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

at ,

Manduria Manduria is a city and ''comune'' of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Taranto. With c. 32,000 inhabitants (2013), it is located east of Taranto. Etymology The name ''Manduria'' is thought to derive from a Proto-Indo-European stem ''*mond- ...

at and Avetrana at . It is one of

I Borghi più belli d'Italia () is a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest, that was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities, with the a ...

("The most beautiful villages of Italy").

Territory

The territory of Maruggio extends for on a level land, with some low-rise hills in the north part of the territory, which reaches a maximum elevation of . There are no rivers, except a little creek, the Canale del Curso, near Castigno, in the western part of Maruggio's territory. The coast extends for , and it is mainly sandy but with rocky parts near Acquadolce Cirenaica and Monaco Mirante.

History

Maruggio was founded by Gorgolano, the Byzantine governor, with the union from the ancient hamlets of Castigno, Olivaro, Albano, Roselle and San Nicolò. After a period under the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

, from 1317 to 1819 it was ruled by the

Knights of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic Church, Cathol ...

. In 1819 it became an autonomous commune.

Economy

Tourism is the main wealth source. Tourism is developed especially along the coast, in the village of Campomarino, that is very famous for its clean sea, for the wonderful beach and in particular for the harbour, that is only along the coast between

Taranto Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...

and Porto Cesareo. But the economy is tied up to the agriculture too. In fact Maruggio is famous for the oil and wine Primitivo.

Main sights

*Mother Church (15th century, rebuilt after the 1743 earthquake) *Church of San Giovanni Battista fuori le Mura (late 15th century) *Church of Sant'Eligio (late 16th century) *Church of Annunziata *Church and convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie (16th century). It has a cloister with

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

frescoes depicting histories of Saints. *Palazzo dei Commendatori, former castle of Knights of Malta *Church of Santa Maria del Tempio * Caniglia's Palace * Covelli-De Marco's Palace * Longo's Palace (16th century) * Armieri's Palace (17th century) * Massafra's Palace (19th century) * Morleo's Palace (19th century).

References

{{authority control Cities and towns in Apulia Localities of Salento Borghi più belli d'Italia