From Punta Palascia, Valona is only about eighty kilometers away, a fact that, in past years, made the Strait of Otranto a kind of highway for the notorious Albanian smugglers. But the vibrancy of these places has ancient roots. The role of the port in trade between Lecce with Tyre and Alexandria has profoundly shaped the character and architectural profile of this small town, which has just over five thousand inhabitants, and unveils to tourists narrow streets paved with pale stone, terraces overlooking the sea, glimpses of blue between white houses and flowered balconies, an imposing Aragonese castle, and a splendid cathedral in Apulian Romanesque style.
A short walk also reveals the rich craftsmanship, made of bobbin lace and embroidery, which adorn clothing and household linen: beautiful pieces can be found at L’Ago del Ricamo, in corso Garibaldi 41. And original ceramic objects, like those at Art’è, in via Lungomare Terra d’Otranto 17. When appetite strikes, you can sit at Da Sergio, a restaurant-institution in the city center, whose cuisine offers fresh fish caught locally, or at Acmet Pascià, with a beautiful terrace on the sea, the right place to enjoy swordfish carpaccio and sea urchin bavette. Scouring the coast from north to south, one cannot miss the sequence of ancient watchtowers, evocative and dramatic buildings, constructed in such a way that, from one to another, suspicious sightings could be signaled with fire.
And then there are the beaches, bays, dream locations, such as Alimini, with its fresh and saltwater lakes, Frassanito; Porto Badisco, which is said to have seen the landing of Aeneas; Santa Cesarea Terme, which shows evident Eastern influences in its architecture. Castro with the limestone whorls of its cave, the Zinzulusa. Arriving thus at the “end of the land,” at Capo di Santa Maria di Leuca. Beyond which is only open sea, only Mediterranean, only blue.
