Monograph Matino

• PREFAZIONE pag.5
• Introduzione pag.8
• Centro Storico e Palazzo Marchesale pag.12
• Monumenti religiosi pag.16
• Grotte e insediamenti rupestri pag.21
• Patrimonio architettonico rurale pag.25
• Français pag.28
• English pag.40
• Deutsch pag.51
• Español pag.63
• BIBLIOGRAFIA pag.75

MATINO

Matino is located on the western side of southern Salento, and stands within the Jonic Salentinian Union together with the municipalities of Alliste, Melissano, Racale and Taviano. The city has more than 11,000 inhabitants and its economy in recent years has developed in the tertiary sector, especially in the provision of banking, insurance and commercial services.

The inhabited centre of Matino extends on the outcrops of the south-western Salento hills, where the Saint Eleuterio’s hill stands: among the highest headlands of the province of Lecce. Around the village there are the vast cultivations of olives, and vines: testimony to the fertility of this land and its agricultural tradition, still rooted in the production of oil and wine of high quality.

In the historic centre it is possible to admire the ancient hypogean oil mills dug into the calcareous rock. For many centuries, olive growing has marked Matino’s economy, particularly linked to the production and sale of oil. Rich in ancient charm, the mills inside still retain the equipment for the pressing of olives, used over the centuries by the powerful arms of the "trappitari", the workers employed in the use of presses, led by the "nachiro".

The ancient city looks to visitors as a precious gem, carved from the narrow streets and delicious terraces that scramble among climbs and descents, overlooking the striking landscapes. The rich historical and artistic heritage of Matino is combined with the attention of the policies of enhancement and promotion of the beauty of the places, where the cultural touristic vocation coexists with the sensitivity of the hospitality typical of the people from southern Salento.