240px, Loggia of Palazzo Covelli De Marco.
Maruggio ( scn, label=
Brindisino, Marùggiu; la, Marubium) is a village and ''
comune'' in the
province of Taranto
The province of Taranto ( it, provincia di 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 popul ...
,
Apulia
it, Pugliese
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, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
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, southeast
Italy. The village is located in a natural depression from the
Gulf of Taranto
The Gulf of Taranto ( it, Golfo di Taranto; Tarantino: ; la, Sinus Tarentinus) 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 ...
, in the north-west part of
Salento peninsula and it's one of the villages of South Italy where the Greek dialect
Griko is spoken.
The nearest villages are
Torricella at ,
Sava at ,
Manduria at and
Avetrana
Avetrana (Salentino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Taranto, part of the Apulia region of southeast Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It i ...
at .
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
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
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, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
, 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 ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...
. 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 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 style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
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
