Santa Cesarea Terme

Santa Cesarea Terme is a spa town overlooking the Canale d'Otranto. The properties of its sulphurous thermal waters have been known since ancient times but, given the difficult position to reach, the inhabited center developed only in modern times in conjunction with the construction of the coastal road at the turn of the 14th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Among the architecture of the city, Villa Sticchi stands out, an admirable example of the Moorish style very popular in this area of Puglia in the early 1900s.

This picturesque village develops vertically on several levels: in the lower part we find the thermal establishment with waters with salsoiodic and sulphurous properties, as well as the rocky coast and the relative accesses to the sea. At the medium one rises the main town crossing by a single main road, surrounded by villas, while in the higher part, there are other buildings, the fourteenth-century Mother Church of the Sacred Heart and even higher the winding streets that lead towards the green hill with olive groves and vineyards. Its fame is due not only to the thermal waters, but also to the sumptuous late XIX century architecture with oriental and liberty tones, such as the famous 'Villa Sticchi', built overlooking the sea in 1885, marked by Moorish lines and an imposing polychrome dome.

Beautiful coastal road and an architectural highlight