L’Abbey was founded at the end of the 12th century by Tancredi d’Altavilla, Count of Lecce. Legend has it that in this place the Madonna appeared to Tancredi, among the antlers of a deer, from which the name (Cerrate or Cervate).
The locality was an important religious and cultural center until the sixteenth century, later transformed into a farmhouse. The area where the Abbey of Cerrate stands was acquired by the province of Lecce in 1965, and was designated as the seat of the museum and the center for research and studies of Salentine folklore and popular traditions.
