Baroque Lecce and the stone that made it
Pietra leccese is soft enough to carve like wood and hardens in the air. That is why the city looks like this.
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Griko: the Greek still spoken near Lecce
A form of Greek that evolved in isolation for two thousand years. UNESCO lists it as endangered.
Tarantismo, and the chapel at Galatina
The rite of the tarantate has a precise address, and a date: 29 June.
Primitivo and Negroamaro
The two red grapes that carry Apulian wine abroad. Primitivo is genetically Zinfandel.
Pasticciotto: breakfast in Lecce
Shortcrust pastry filled with custard, eaten warm at a bar counter before nine in the morning.
What to eat in Gallipoli
Sagne ‘ncannulate, the saffron scapece sold from wooden tubs, and a zeppola from the pastry shop.
Pizzica and the Notte della Taranta: Italy’s biggest folk festival
Pizzica is the trance dance of the Salento, and the Notte della Taranta is the festival built around it. What it is, where it comes from, and how to go.
Ferragosto in the sixties: when Apulians went to the sea on a lorry
Sides up, mattresses on the flatbed and the dishes balanced on people’s knees: before there were cars, Apulians went to the sea on 15 August on the back of a lorry. The story of a holiday invented in 1931.
Notte della Taranta 2026: on 22 August Melpignano dances with Ermal Meta
The Concertone returns to Melpignano on Saturday 22 August 2026: Ermal Meta as maestro concertatore for the first time, the Mediterranean as the theme, and the guests announced so far.
Events in the Salento in August 2026: the complete guide, day by day
In August in the Salento you do not plan, you cope. Sagre, luminarie, patron saints’ feasts and the Concertone at Melpignano: the calendar day by day, and the five to pick if time is short.
