Accordying to the history, was the Roman centurion Martius who founded the place, thanks to a donation of a Salento land as a tribute for the value shown in battle. In the following century, was under the dominion of Greeks and Byzantines that influenced so much the territory and culture, till find even today traces of the 'Grika' language, still speak sometimes by the older people. Infact Martano is one of the nine villages that constitute the hellenophonic area named as 'Grecìa Salentina'.
In the historic center you can admire the courtyard houses, typical building of the patriarchal families, around which the houses of the other family's members developed. Still in the center, you can walk with your gaze upwards to grasp valuable architectural elements such as coats of arms, portals and columns that adorn various buildings. Among the monuments worth to be mentioned, there are the baronial palace (once Aragonese castle), the mother church dedicated to Maria Ss. Assunta, the church of S. Maria del Rosario close to the city hall palace (once cloister of the Domenicani monks) and the chapels of the Madonna del Carmine and Immacolata Concezione, dating back to the end of the XVII century.