Towards East: from Sucèa to the last lights of the world

To begin, from Sucèa farmhouse you could reach in few minutes the splendid rocks as much as the renowned beaches of San Foca, of the poetic messapian Roca, of the populated Torre dell’Orso , of the fine Sant’Andrea and, obviously, of Otranto. This one is the superb and blue pearl of the Adriatic, home to the 800 Saint Martyrs who were decapitated by Turkishes in 1480,keeper par excellance of our ancestors remembrances and eternal source of Greek-Latin, Byzantine and Middle East cultures, typical of our territory, that, for this reason, takes the centuries-old name of “ Land of Otranto”. As you move towards the south, you will find the most fascinating stretch of coast in the peninsula of Salento. The rising up on the horizon of mountains from Albania, will be the background, and you will be totally enchanted by an unutterable beauty, that will go with you along the whole itinerary. Like a silver filament, the route shows your eyes  a continual succession of shining pearls. At first, you will reach Porto Badisco and Castro, which  the whole West history  passed through, from primitive man, who told stories about himself in the big caves on the coast - such as Romanelli cave, Dei Cervi cave ( cave of Stags), and beyond it, the dreamlike Zinzulusa cave, where you could take a guided tour among stalactites and stalagmites – to the Messapian, the Greeks and the Latins, whose forefather Enea found his first landing place here, to establish then the power of Ancient Rome. As you move on, among dry stone walls delimitating the hanging gardens sheer on the sea, among gloomy and ancient isolated towers that from their heights watch over the landscape, among “pagghiare” and “furnieddhi” typical buildings that blur into the rock, fabulous landscape under the moonlight, among colourful prikly pears that cheerfully climb up on fruits of nature and fruits of human work, finally you will find the Middle-East, Moorish beauty of Santa Cesarea Terme, the limpid sea and the rocks of Marina di Andrano, Tricase Porto, Marina Serra and so on. Anywhere in these places you will find golden beaches, surrounded by pine forests and lush greenery sheltered on the West by stony hills (called “specchie”) and slopes covered by olive trees ( called “serre”), where a constellation of poetic villages appears and it will be softened by the nearby fascinating hinterland. After having seen the dizzying heights of Ciolo bridge, you could finally admire the last lighthouse in the shining Santa Maria di Leuca. Its white reflection will make you ready for the last and greatest sight: the sublime union with the endless Mediterranean Sea.