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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.
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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" agency 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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