Chapel of Saint Paul and the Tarantism Legend

Overlooking St. Peter's Square, in the area of ​​the historic center where once stood the main gate 'Porta Maggiore', the mother church dedicated to the patron saints Peter and Paul has a spectacular façade, a sign of the Baroque style, which characterizes much of the religious building and private city. Built since 1633, the current church is the result of renovations that took place between the seventeenth and seventeenth centuries. The interior, marked by three naves, has sider chapels, frescoed ceilings and several paintings and sculptures from the XVI to the XVIII century.

Moving slightly away from the official route (100m on the left), at Via Garibaldi n.2 there is the San Paul chapel, a small and simple religious architecture linked to the famous myth of the 'Tarantism'. The legend told that the Apostles Peter and Paul, during their travel around the world, stopped at Galatina and were hosted by a local in their home, which stood where the Chapel is based today. To thank him for his kind hospitality, St. Paul gave man and his descendants the power to heal all those who had been bitten by poisonous spiders, defined in the dialect as "tarante". Simply by drinking the water from the well, placed inside the house and making the sign of the cross on the wound, that brutal disease could be defeated. The feast held on June 29 is linked to the figure of Saint Paul and to this legend. In that occasion crowd in the squares dancing the rhythm of the 'pizzica-pizzica' played with tambourines, accordions and singing accompaniment.