| Otranto
offers the tourist many places to visit:
 The
Aragonese Castle was erected by Ferdinando
of Aragona in 1485, making use of the ruins of a pre-existing blockhouse of Bizantine
execution. The three towers weren't part of the old structure, but they were added
by the Aragoneses. The so-called "cutting Edge", that is the spike that
leans forward the sea is due to the Spanish viceroys (1587). The castle has a
little square in the entrance hall and an upper gallery along its inner edge;
the upper rooms of the Castle were used in order to disorientate the enemies.
The round rooms of the towers have windows with loop-holes; the triangular room
is the work of architect Ciro Ciri; the rooms at the bottom are full of short
cuts, basements and escape routes. Powerful walls were built in defence of the
town, fortifying the ruins of the Byzantine ones after the Turks' assaults (in
the following decades there were many attacks). These walls were alternated with
three main towers: Ippolita, Duchesca and Alfonsina, which, together with the
Castle, keep, as a precious case, the ancient centre of Otranto.
 The
"Cathedral of Our Lady of the Annunciation"
was consacrated in 1088. It is an imposing church where the Romanesque, Greek,
Norman style and the style of the Renaissance blend. The external rose window
has a Gothic design. The portal is a subsequent extension. The Church consists
of a nave and two aisles, which are separated by two lines of seven pillars each.
At the end of the right aisle there is the "Martyrs' Chapel". The paintings
laid out in the church are important Byzantine evidences. The mosaic on the floor
is a remarkable work of art. It is imputed to Pantaleone, a priest in the nearly
St. Nicola of Castle Abbey, and it was made from 1163 to 1166.
 The
small "St. Peter's Church" (9th
- 10th century B.C.), of Byzantine design, was a real point of reference for the
little village. It is built on the plan of a Greek cross with a little nave and
two little aisles.
The four central pillars hold up a dome without tambour.
On the walls very remarkable frescoes portray Jesus Christ's life.
 For
those people who like excursions: don't miss the Martyrs'
Hill, the Snake's Tower, the Hypogeum
in Torre Pinta, the Light house at Palascia
(Otranto Cape) and the ruins of the St. Nicola
di Casole Abbey.
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