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OTRANTO |  Otranto
has a very ancient origin: the town structure dates back to the 5th century BC,
but there are traces of previous human dwellings. It was an important Messapian
town, then a flourishing port and a Roman "municipium". Over the centuries
it was ruled by many peoples (Norman, Suevians, Angevins, Aragoneses).
But
the events which made Otranto very famous happened in 1480. otranto was invaded
and devastated by Turks, who occupied the town after a siege which lasted from
28th July to 11th August. They seized the lands around the town and stole everything
they found along their way. On 14th August 1480 Achmet Pascià, the commander
of the Turkish fleet, chose 800 Strong men among the citizens of Otranto and he
promised he would have spared their lives if they had been converted to Islam
and had renounced to Christianity, living under the Turkish patronage.
Led
by Antonio Pezzulla, called primaldo, they refused.
They were tied up and
taken in a grisly long line to the Minerva Hill, called today "the Martyrs'
hill". There they were beheaded under their wives', fathers', children's
and relatives' dismayed eyes.
The first to be executed was Primaldo, who prodigiously
stood up though he was headless, and the Turks couldn't throw him down the hill
until the last citizen of Otranto was beheaded. The Blessed Martyrs' bodies lay
there unburied for more than one year, as a warning for everyone. When the Aragonese
army freed the town on 11th September 1481, they ordered that the heroic citizens'
corpses were gathered. The bodies were found intact by a miracle. Today you can
see the holy relics in the Martyrs' Chapel, in the right aisle of the "Cathedral
of Our Lady of the Annunciation" in Otranto. |
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"Rufino Vacanze"
offers to its guests lodging in flats equipped with every comfort, located in
central areas and not far from the sea, for a pleasant holiday in Otranto. In
the nearby menu you will find some of our accomodations with a photo, a description
and the position of each flat. | |
We also have many other lodging to offer! |
For information please phone or send
a fax to the following numbers: +39.0836.801014 - +39.328.0693724
or, simply, fill in our form!!! |
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