산 도나토 디 레체‬에서 가장 멋진 ‪9‬개의 천연기념물

Inserted in the collection https://www.komoot.com/it-it/collection/2431081/-pietre-del-salento - Not immediately visible because it is partially hidden by brambles on the edge of a secondary road near Masseria Ussano.

Centuries-old holm oak which, according to legend, was used as a refuge from local brigandage

Characteristic Martignano wells that served as cisterns for collecting rainwater. They could be owned or public and in part still perform their function today

Inserted in the collection https://www.komoot.com/it-it/collection/2431081/-pietre-del-salento - Dolmen located within a plot/olive grove but always accessible. Visiting this Dolmen is an excellent excuse for an excursion.

Also known as 'ta freata' (from the griko) to indicate the wells, these structures represented a solution to the problem of the water supply in an area, such the inner Salento, devoid of substantial water courses. Rainwater was collected and channeled into these wells, some of which belonged to one or more families, while others were public. On some there are crosses, on others there are evident signs of corrosion of the rope which for centuries has seen one of its ends knotted to the handle of a bucket.

Salento is the name of a 100 km long and 40 km wide peninsula in the extreme southeast of Italy and is often referred to as the heel of the Italian boot. From prehistoric times cave finds (Grinz Zinzulusa) were made and dolmens and menhirs were preserved as remnants of the early peasant culture. In antiquity, the area was inhabited by the Messapi, an Illyrian tribe that had to defend its independence in wars against the Greek settlement of Taras (Taranto). Herodotus reports a war around the year 474 BC. Between Taras and the Lega Peuceta (an alliance from the area around Bari) supported by the Lega Messapica (from Salento). In this conflict, the Messapier could still retain the upper hand after several years of war, from about 280 BC. However, the Roman Republic gained supremacy throughout Lower Italy.