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The abbey is located on the Francigena route which can be accessed via a narrow path under a holm oak forest to the right of the abbey.

The tower can be reached by walking along a somewhat daring path.

It's fantastic to cross this stretch in the shade of the vegetation which gives a sense of protection to those who cross it.

Example of what must have been an extensive forest near the Abbey of Santa Maria di Cerrate.

Currently managed by the Fondo Ambiente Italiano (FAI), the Cerrate Abbey complex is unique in its kind and one of the most significant examples of Otranto Romanesque. Some details of the church capitals and the interesting explanations of the FAI guides will leave you speechless.

https://fondoambiente.it/luoghi/abbazia-di-santa-maria-di-cerrate Once a Byzantine monastery inhabited by Italian-Greek monks, then an agricultural production center specializing in the processing of olives: the Cerrate Abbey offers a fascinating tale of its double soul as a place of worship and historic farm.

Once a Byzantine monastery inhabited by Italian-Greek monks, then an agricultural production center specializing in the processing of olives: the Cerrate Abbey offers a fascinating tale of its double soul as a place of worship and historic farm. https://fondoambiente.it/luoghi/abbazia-di-santa-maria-di-cerrate Immersed in a wonderful landscape of olive groves, fruit trees and cultivated areas, legend has it that the Abbey was founded following a vision by King Tancredi d'Altavilla, Count of Lecce, to whom the image of the Madonna appeared , after chasing a doe into a cave. Historically, however, the foundation is attested between the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century, when Boemondo d'Altavilla - son of Robert Guiscard - established a monastery of Greek monks, followers of the rule of Saint Basil the Great, who sheltered in Salento to escape the iconoclastic persecutions of Byzantium. Built near the Roman road that connected Brindisi with Lecce and Otranto, the Abbey was expanded to become one of the most important monastic centers in southern Italy: in 1531, when it came under the control of the Hospital for Incurables of Naples, the the complex includes, in addition to the church, stables, accommodation for the farmers, a well, a mill, two underground oil mills. The sacking by Turkish pirates in 1711 plunged the entire center into a state of complete abandonment which continued during the 19th century until the intervention of the Province of Lecce in 1965, which entrusted the restoration work to the architect Franco Minissi. Thanks to a public tender promoted by the Province of Lecce, in 2012 the complex was entrusted to the FAI. Today, after a complex restoration project which also allowed the Church of Santa Maria di Cerrate to be reopened for worship, the Abbey can be visited again and represents a splendid example of Apulian Romanesque architecture embellished with important frescoes which make it unique in the world. Byzantine.

The Rinalda Tower is located in the province of Lecce and dates back to the sixteenth century. The Spanish commissioned its construction to defend against Saracen pirates. The seaside resort also takes its name from her.