Grottaglie is located in the
SalentoSalento is the south-eastern extremity of the Apulia region of Italy. It is a sub-peninsula of the main Italian peninsula, sometimes described as the "heel" of the Italian "boot"...
peninsula, a whole rock of
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
dividing
Adriatic seaThe Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges. The Adriatic Sea is a part of the Mediterranean Sea...
from
Ionian seaThe Ionian Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, and by southwestern Albania, including Saranda and Himara, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante,...
. The countryside around the city is scattered with vast and deep ravines that open the ground into the heart of the limestone-rock. The landscape is characterized by the presence of such ancient and enthralling rupestrian
ravineA ravine is a very small valley—almost like a canyon but narrower—which is often the product of streamcutting erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. A ravine is generally a slope landform of relatively steep sides, on the order...
encircling the built-up area.
The name Grottaglie derives from the Latin
Cryptae Aliae, meaning “many ravines”, which has been inhabited since the Palaeolithic Age.
Geography
Grottaglie is located in the
SalentoSalento is the south-eastern extremity of the Apulia region of Italy. It is a sub-peninsula of the main Italian peninsula, sometimes described as the "heel" of the Italian "boot"...
peninsula, a whole rock of
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
dividing
Adriatic seaThe Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges. The Adriatic Sea is a part of the Mediterranean Sea...
from
Ionian seaThe Ionian Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, and by southwestern Albania, including Saranda and Himara, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante,...
. The countryside around the city is scattered with vast and deep ravines that open the ground into the heart of the limestone-rock. The landscape is characterized by the presence of such ancient and enthralling rupestrian
ravineA ravine is a very small valley—almost like a canyon but narrower—which is often the product of streamcutting erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. A ravine is generally a slope landform of relatively steep sides, on the order...
encircling the built-up area.
History
The name Grottaglie derives from the Latin
Cryptae Aliae, meaning “many ravines”, which has been inhabited since the Palaeolithic Age. The ancestral part of Grottaglie was one of the citadels in the area, referred to in Medieval documents as
Casale Cryptalerum, founded during the Dark Ages by the inhabitants of the caves who sheltered there due to
SaracenSaracen was a term used by Europeans in the Middle Ages for Arabs at first, then later for all who professed the religion of Islam.-Etymology:...
invasions.
The fief of Grottaglie was donated by the Norman overlords to the archbishopric of Taranto in the 11th century. In the 14th century the ecclesiastic administration provided the fief with fortifications, walls, a castle (Castello Episcopio, Italian for “archbishop’s castle”) as well as with the
Chiesa Matrice ("Mother church").
Since the 15th-17th centuries the jurisdiction over Grottaglie fief was split between the ecclesiastic administration (civil law) and the lay feudal lords (criminal law, Cicinelli-Caracciolo family). Fights between these two competing authorities and periodic revolts by the heavily-taxed population were the leit-motiv of Grottaglie’s history until the abolition of
feudalismFeudalism is a decentralized sociopolitical structure in which a weak monarchy attempts to control the lands of the realm through reciprocal agreements with regional leaders...
(1806). After the
Italian unificationItalian unification was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century...
Grottaglie had the first urban expansion outside its Medieval walls.
Main sights
- The massive Castello Episcopio (13th century) castle.
- The main church, also known as Chiesa Matrice, dating back to 1379.
- The city's oratory, known as Purgatory Oratory.
- Palazzo Cicinelli, a massive building on the main square whose original façade has been later redecoreted to the current fashion during the Baroque period. The palazzo was the seat of the Duke
A duke is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy. The title comes from the Latin Dux Bellorum, which had the sense of "military commander" and was employed by both the Germanic peoples themselves and by the Roman authors...
s of Grottaglie also PrincePrince, from French "Prince" , is a general term for a monarch, for a member of a monarchs' or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in some members of Europe's highest nobility...
s of CursiCursi is a town and comune in the Italian province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-east Italy....
and Princes of the Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire comprised a number of political entities which were deemed to be sovereign after the Treaty of Westphalia . Among the most important of these were the Princes of the Holy Roman Empire.-System:...
, hence the residence of the feudal lords of the town on the grant of Bohemond I.
- Palazzo Urselli, which maintains the original Renaissance (pre-Baroque) façade, with a massive 15th century gate and a decorated internal courtyard.
- Palazzo Maggiulli-Cometa, whose structure is similar to Palazzo Urselli’s.
- Palazzo Blasi, with a Baroque façade.
- Monastery of San Francesco di Paola, representing the greatest Baroque monument in the city. It has a splendid cloistered-court inside.
- The Chiesa del Carmine, housing a 1530 stone crib scene made by Stefano from Putignano
Putignano is a town and comune in the province of Bari, Puglia, Italy. The comune has a land area of 99.11 km² .It is one of the main cities of the region. Its population at the 2001 census was 28,176 inhabitants and the economic activity is quite important...
.
Culture
Folkloristic and religious events include the commemoration-day of St. Cyrus and Easter-period when the Medieval-rooted confraternal religious orders perform their processions during the days of the
Holy WeekHoly Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
(
EasterEaster is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day from his crucifixion...
rituals include
processionA procession is, in general, an organized body of people advancing in a formal or ceremonial manner....
and pilgrimage of confrères called “Bubbli-Bubbli” through the streets of town).
Other events include:
- The exhibition “Ceramica nel Quartiere delle Ceramiche”
- The Mediterranean ceramics contest, theatrical and musical events
- Promotion of dessert grapes, months of July-August-September
- Exhibition-contest about ceramic crib scene during the months of December and January
- “Musica Mundi” – international festival of ethnic music in July.
Economy
Grapes and ceramics-industry are two traditional elements of the local economy since the times of Greater Greece.
The numerous ceramic finds, tracing back to the Classical Age and kept in the National Museum of "Magna Grecia" in Taranto, reveal the antique roots of this handicrafts production which was privileged by the presence of considerable amounts of clay in the surrounding territory. More recently, records dating back to the 18th century report at the time 42 companies in Grottaglie operating in the ceramics-sector with a total of 5,000 employees. In addition to ceramics, also agricultural products such as olive oil and excellent choice dessert grapes are of great importance.
Alenia Composite, a factory of Alenia group producing parts for the Boeing 787.