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Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Annunciation

Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Annunciation

Highlight • Religious Site

Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Annunciation

Recommended by 105 hikers out of 112

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Location: Otranto, Lecce, Apulia, Italy

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Best Hikes to Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Annunciation

4.7

(56)

213

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1. Otranto Castle Walls – Otranto Bauxite Lake loop from Otranto

17.6km

04:42

190m

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Moderate

4.6

(37)

173

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2. Otranto Bauxite Lake – Sentiero Orte Coastal Views loop from Otranto

13.3km

03:31

120m

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Moderate

4.2

(50)

216

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3. Otranto Bauxite Lake – St. Emilian Tower loop from Otranto

22.5km

06:02

270m

Hard hike. Very good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Hard

Tips

Eberhard

June 8, 2025

The cathedral features a fascinating floor mosaic:
- in the center, the Tree of Life (beginning with elephants, cats, Adam and Eve, ...,
until you reach God) and in the left aisle,
- the Tree of Knowledge with the decider for heaven or hell is very worth seeing.

Translated by Google •

Miodrag Knežević

September 15, 2021

The Cathedral of Santa Annunziata (Italian: Duomo di Otranto / Basilica Cattedrale di Santa Maria Annunziata) is a church building in Otranto (Italy) from the 12th century. The minor basilica is the seat of the Archdiocese of Otranto. A large mosaic (10 million Tessera) from the 12th century with an area of 57 × 28 m = 1596 m² is located all over the floor of the building. The artist was a monk named Pantaleon from the monastery of San Nicola di Casole. In his home monastery of San Nicola di Casole, he was considered to be someone who understood how to interpret Greek and Nordic myths and how to give artistic form to their mysterious relationships with Christian stories and parables. In total, over 700 individual “stories” are interwoven in this mosaic. Among them is a depiction of King Arthur, a legendary figure from the late 9th century who was literary in Britain and has come down to us in court literature of the 12th century.

The relics of the 800 martyrs of Otranto († August 11, 1480), who were canonized in 2013, are kept in the cathedral. Other relics of these martyrs can be found in Naples and Venice. When the Turks conquered Otranto in 1480, they gave the residents the choice of either renouncing their Christian faith or dying. 800 male residents preferred death by beheading.

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Nico Maker 🚲🚶

August 26, 2023

beautiful church where the martyrs of Otranto are buried when they were defeated by the Turks

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Details

Informations

Elevation 20 m

Weather

Thursday 11 December

16°C

11°C

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Max wind speed: 25.0 km/h

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See hikes here

Take Me There

Location: Otranto, Lecce, Apulia, Italy

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Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Annunciation

1. Otranto Castle Walls – Otranto Bauxite Lake loop from Otranto

2. Otranto Bauxite Lake – Sentiero Orte Coastal Views loop from Otranto

3. Otranto Bauxite Lake – St. Emilian Tower loop from Otranto

Other Popular Places to Check Out

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