Nardò ( or ; ) is a town 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 southern Italian region of

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 ...

, in the

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

. Lies on a lowland area placed at south-west of its

Province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, its border includes part of the Ionian coast 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 ...

. For centuries, it had been one of the central cities of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. In 1497 the ducal

House of Acquaviva The House of Acquaviva is an aristocratic Italian family from Naples. The head of the family was Duke of Atri in the Abruzzo from the 15th century, and Count of Conversano after an Orsini family marriage in 1546, among other titles. History The ...

acquired it under their domain. During those years it became the main cultural hotspot of

, seat of many Universities, Academies, literary and philosophical studies: it was given the name of ''Nuoua Atene litterarum''. With almost 32,000 inhabitants and 190 squared kilometres of land, it is the second largest and most populated city among those in the Province, right after

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

, and also one of the most culturally active towns of

. The Old Town is particularly rich with palaces, churches, chapels and other architectural details shaped accordingly to the principles of

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 ...

style. Indeed, the city is a significant example of this art movement along with

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

and

. The stretch of coast wet by the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...

is split into small inhabited fractions such as Santa Caterina, Santa Maria al Bagno, Sant'Isidoro and Porto Selvaggio. The latter is a

Nature Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

created by a reforestation that happened during 1950s.

Geography

Part of

, Nardò is located in the north-western area of the province, by the

. The municipality borders with

Avetrana Avetrana (Salentino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Taranto, part of the Apulia region of southeast Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. I ...

( TA),

Copertino Copertino (; historical ; ), also known in English as Cupertino, is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-east Italy. History Following Charles of Anjou's successful campaign in 1266, the Hohenstaufen tow ...

Galatina Galatina (; ; ), known before the unification of Italy as San Pietro in Galatina, is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Lecce in Apulia, southern Italy. It is situated about south of the city of Lecce. Main sights *The late Romanesq ...

, Galatone, Leverano,

Porto Cesareo Porto Cesareo (; Salentino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Italian province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-east Italy. The area around the sea of Porto Cesareo is an examplar of Maquis shrubland. Beyond the natural beauty, the sea of ...

Salice Salentino Salice Salentino is a small town and ''comune'' in the southern part of Apulia, Italy, in the Salento area. It is bounded with the province of Taranto to the northwest and the province of Brindisi to the north. Main sights include the ''Chiesa M ...

and

Veglie Velhe (Salentino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Italian province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-east Italy. Veglie is west of Lecce and east of the sea, the Gulf of Taranto. It is bounded by the ''comuni'' of Campi Salentina, Carmi ...

History

Traces of human presence in the area dates from

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

times. The settlement was founded by the

Messapi The Messapians were an Iapygian tribe who inhabited Salento in classical antiquity. Two other Iapygian tribes, the Peucetians and the Daunians, inhabited central and northern Apulia respectively. All three tribes spoke the Messapian language, ...

around the year 1000 BC. The

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

conquered it in 269 BC and built the

Via Traiana The ''Via Traiana'' was an ancient Roman road. It was built by the emperor Trajan as an extension of the ''Via Appia'' from Beneventum, reaching Brundisium (Brindisi) by a shorter route (i.e. via Canusium, Butuntum and Barium rather than via ...

through it. After the fall of the

Western Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

it was under the Byzantines and the

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

. In 1055 the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

captured Nardò. Their heirs were ousted by the Angevines in 1266. In 1497 the Aragonese gave it to Andrea Matteo Acquaviva, whose son

Belisario ''Belisario'' (''Belisarius'') is a ''tragedia lirica'' (tragic opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Luigi Marchionni's adaptation of play, ''Belisarius'', first staged in Munich in 182 ...

was the first Duke of Nardò, and promoted the Renaissance in the city. In 1647 the city rebelled against the Spanish domination, but the viceroyal troops suppressed the riot with heavy terms.

Nardò DOC

The area around Nardò produces red and ''

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

'' Italian DOC wines. The grapes are limited to a

harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

yield of 18 tonnes/ha with the finished needing a minimum alcohol level of 12.5%. The wines are primarily composed of 80-100%

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

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 ...

and

Malvasia Nera Malvasia (), also known as Malvazia, is a group of wine grape varieties grown historically in the Mediterranean region and Macaronesia, but now grown in many of the winemaking regions of the world. In the past, the names Malvasia, Malvazia, ...

permitted to fill in the remaining 20%.P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pg 186 Firefly Books 2004

Main sights

*The ''Piazza Salandra'' is the center of the town. * Nardò Cathedral, built around 1000 AD. It has an 18th-century façade, but the interior has maintained the Romanesque- Gothic original appearance. *Church of ''San Domenico'' (16th-18th centuries). It has a highly decorated façade with Baroque

caryatid A caryatid ( ; ; ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient t ...

s, columns and vegetable figures. *''Chiesa del Carmine'', with a fine Renaissance portal. *Church of ''San Cosimo'' (1618) *Temple of the Osanna (1603) *

Nardò Ring The Nardò Ring, originally known as Pista di prova di Nardò della Fiat (Fiat's Nardò test track) when it was built in 1975, is a high speed test track located at more than north-west of the town of Nardò, Italy, in the southern region of A ...

in Nardò is used as a

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

track for driving at high speeds.

People

* Daniele Greco, triple jumper *

Amanda Lamb Amanda Lamb (born 19 July 1972) is an English television presenter, property expert and former model who is notable for presenting '' A Place in the Sun'' (from 2001 until 2009) and ''You Deserve This House''. She has also had notable appearance ...

, British model *

Fabrizio Miccoli Fabrizio Miccoli (; born on 27 June 1979) is an Italian former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He scored 103 goals in 259 matches in Serie A across nine seasons, representing ...

, footballer *

Giuliano Sangiorgi Giuliano Sangiorgi (born 24 January 1979) is an Italian singer, songwriter and composer, forming part of the rock band Negramaro. Career Solo career Giuliano is not only the writer and singer for Negramaro, but he is also a songwriter and c ...

, singer-songwriter

Sister cities

Atlit Atlit or Athlit may refer to: Places * Atlit, an historical fortified town in Israel, also known as Château Pèlerin * Atlit (modern town), a nearby town in Israel Media *Athlit (album), ''Athlit'' (album), an ambient music album by Oöphoi *Atli ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Fiorano Modenese Fiorano Modenese (Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Modena in the Italy, Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about west of Bologna and about southwest of Modena. Neighboring municipalitie ...

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 ...

Conversano Conversano (Bari dialect, Barese: ) is an ancient town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, south-eastern Italy. It is southeast of Bari and from the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coast, at above sea level. The counts of Conversan ...

Gyumri Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th centur ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

In film

Nardò is the location of the Tomatina-inspired tomato festival in the 2014 British musical film, Walking on Sunshine.On location: ‘Walking on Sunshine’
Joanne O'Connor, 27 June 2014,

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

Sei mai stata sulla Luna? (2015)

Climate

References

External links

Official websiteViews of the Baroque land of NardòUseful information and contacts about NardòHow to get to NardòPuglia Photo GalleryNardò coast live webcam

Salento
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nardo Cities and towns in Apulia Municipalities of the Province of Lecce Localities of Salento Baroque architecture in Apulia