Zollino is a small town and comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

of 2,194 inhabitants in the province of Lecce

Lecce

Lecce is a historic city of 95,200 inhabitants in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Lecce, the second province in the region by population, as well as one of the most important cities of Puglia...

 in Apulia

Apulia

Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It is one of the nine towns of Grecìa Salentina

Grecìa Salentina

Grecia Salentina is an area in the peninsula of Salento in southern Italy, near the town of Lecce which is inhabited by the Griko people, an ethnic Greek minority living in southern Italy who traditionally spoke a Greek Language dialect also called Griko. It consists of eleven towns and belongs to...

, which still keeps Greek language and traditions.

History

Zollino's territory was settled in pre-historic times, as attested by the presence of dolmen

Dolmen

A dolmen—also known as a portal tomb, portal grave, dolmain , cromlech , anta , Hünengrab/Hünenbett , Adamra , Ispun , Hunebed , dös , goindol or quoit—is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of...

s and menhir

Menhir

A menhir is a large upright standing stone. Menhirs may be found singly as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Their size can vary considerably; but their shape is generally uneven and squared, often tapering towards the top...

s in the area. Its foundation origin is not clear: it could be a Iapygian

Iapyges

The Iapyges or Iapygians were an Indo-European people who inhabited the heel of Italy before being absorbed by the Romans.-Identity:The Iapyges have unknown origins but could have been from Illyria....

 colony from the nearby Apigliano, or a rural offshoot of Soleto

Soleto

Soleto is a small Griko-speaking city located in the province of Lecce in Apulia, Italy. The town has a total population of 5,537 and is one of the nine towns of Grecìa Salentina.-History:...

. In historical ancient times it was an important trade centre between the Ionian

Ionian Sea

The 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, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...

 and the Adriatic

Adriatic Sea

The 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...

 coasts.

In the Middle Ages, it belonged to the county of Lecce

County of Lecce

The County of Lecce was a semi-independent entity in Puglia, southern Italy, which existed from 1055 to 1463. Its capital was Lecce, and it was bounded by territories of Brindisi on the north, Oria and Nardò on the west, and Soleto and Otranto on the south....

 founded by the Hauteville Normands. In 1190 king Tancred of Sicily

Tancred of Sicily

Tancred was King of Sicily from 1189 to 1194. He was an illegitimate son of Roger III, Duke of Apulia, the eldest son of King Roger II, and of Emma, daughter of Achard II, Count of Lecce...

 donated it to Berlinghiero Chiaromonte. After belonging to the Principality of Taranto

Principality of Taranto

The Principality of Taranto was a state in southern Italy created in 1088 for Bohemond I, eldest son of Robert Guiscard, as part of the peace between him and his younger brother Roger Borsa after a dispute over the succession to the Duchy of Apulia....

, in 1463 it became a possession of Raimondello Orsini del Balzo. Afterwards the latter's death Zollino was again a direct royal possession and, later, a fief of the Granafei marquisses of Sternatia

Sternatia

Sternatia is a small town and comune in the province of Lecce, Apulia, southern Italy. It is one of the nine towns of Grecìa Salentina....

.

Main sights

• Mother Church of Saints Peter and Paul
• Menhir S. Anna
• Menhir "Stazione"
• Dolmen "Cranzari"
• The hypogeum oil mill
• Church of S. Anna
• Pozzelle
• Church of Saint Joseph
• Church of Madonna of Loreto

Transportation

Zollino has a station on the Lecce

Lecce

Lecce is a historic city of 95,200 inhabitants in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Lecce, the second province in the region by population, as well as one of the most important cities of Puglia...

-Gallipoli and Zollino-Gagliano del Capo

Gagliano del Capo

Gagliano del Capo is a town and comune in the Italian province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-east Italy.-Main sights:*Palazzo Ciardo *Mother Church, built in 1574*Church of St. Francis of Paola- External Links :...

 railroads, served by the Ferrovie del Sud Est

Ferrovie del Sud Est

thumb|An Ad.42 automotrice in the Bari Sud Est station.Ferrovie del Sud Est is a secondary railway company of Apulia, southern Italy, operating in the comuni south to Lecce.-Lines:* Linea 1 Bari-Taranto* Linea 2 Martina Franca-Lecce...

.

By road, it can be reached through the Lecce-Maglie

Maglie

Maglie is a town and comune in the province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-east Italy.-History:The Maglie area was settled as early as the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age, and before, as testified by the presence of archaic dolmens and menhirs, and by the Cattìe site, discovered in 1980,...

SS16 Adriatica state road.