Salento, extreme south-east end of Puglia, is surrounded by two seas, Adriatic and Ionian, with 250 km of coasts, shores, crystal clear sea, wonderful breathtaking landscapes. Impressive cliffs overhanging the sea characterize the Adriatic coastline between Otranto and Santa Maria di Leuca, the same feature that we find in Santa Cesarea, famous for its thermal baths; On the Ionian coast we find Ugento, an ancient Messapic centre, and Gallipoli, from the greek 'Kalé Polis' which means 'beautiful city', made by an ancient town entirely builded upon an island and a new, modern, city.
Galatina was once surrounded and defended by strong boundaries build up for the first time in 1355 and reconstructed two centuries later. The only accesses were represented by the doors, some visible still today. The main door to enter the city was the so-called 'Porta Terra', now destroyed, which linked Aligheri Square to St. Peter Square. The other accesses were 'Porta Cappuccini' or 'Arco Cadura', realized in 1725 and put in the east of the boundaries, 'Porta St. Pietro' or 'Porta Nuova', situated in the north side of the boundaries, and 'Porta Luce', reconstructed in 1795 and the most ancient one.