How many things can be hidden in the folds of your toga? Treasure all the anecdotes, curiosities and insights collected in this column, carry them "in your pocket" and, if necessary, take them out to amaze everyone with your knowledge!

In the Folds of the Toga

No rules, just one truth: art is for everyone! 
Join our art club and satiate your hunger for culture, (but be careful, it could cause Independence)!

Art Without Rules

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Hidden artworks in Disney classics

Among the most evocative towns of Salento, Copertino enchants visitors with its architectural marvels, whose friezes take shape from the  Lecce stone, and with its magical coasts on the Ionian side. Discover all the cultural activities available right now and buy your ticket directly online (safely and with just a few clicks!).


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What to see in Copertino

Copertino

Home to great personalities who made the history of the region, the Castle of Copertino is one of the greatest examples of Apulian Renaissance military architecture.

Home to great personalities who made the history of the region, the Castle of Copertino is one of the greatest examples of **Apulian Renaissance military architecture**.


Visit it together with an expert guide, who will be able to show you the wonders of this place!


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Copertino Castle Guided Tour

Guided Tour

In terms of dimensions and type of structure, Copertino Castle is one of the finest examples of Apulian Renaissance military architecture, home to important figures who wrote the history of the region. 


**History of a National Monument**

In 1266, **Charles I of Anjou** made Copertino the administrative seat of the county as part of his programmed military reorganisation of Apulia. The keep, the original core structure of the fortification, may date back to this period. In the 1630s Evangelista Menga was commissioned by Charles V's feudal lord **Alfonso Granai Castriota** to modernise the structure: the medieval part was incorporated into a quadrangular plan with the addition of four bastions in the corners and a moat. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the castle had various owners: first came the Squarciafico family, followed by the Pinelli and Pignatelli families, and the Granito di Belmonte family in the 19th century. Declared a **National Monument in 1885**, it became State property in 1956. 

**The 16th-century building**

The visitor enters the castle through a **Renaissance portal carved in stone of Lecce**, with reliefs celebrating the Castriota feudal lords and their military might, already evident in the massive walls rising from the moat. The 'Italian-style' fortress, with its profile strengthened by lanceolate bastions, incorporates the oldest elements - the tower and medieval halls - as well as the Renaissance palace built for the count's family at the end of the 16th century and the 18th-century portico framing the servants' quarters.

**Timeless frescoes**

Inside the castle are two frescoed chapels dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. The **Magdalene Chapel** is located halfway up the ramp leading to the Renaissance palace and features a cycle of frescoes dating from the late Gothic period, commissioned by the Countess of Lecce **Maria d'Enghien**, while the **Chapel of St. Mark** contains a cycle frescoed in 1568 by the painter Gianserio Strafella, with figures from the Old and New Testament. Inside the Chapel of St. Mark are the sarcophagi of Uberto and Stefano Squarciafico, feudal lords at the time of its construction. 


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Copertino Castle

Architectural pride of the Land of Apulia and pearl of Salento 


In terms of dimensions and type of structure, Copertino Castle is one of the finest examples of Apulian Renaissance military architecture, home to important figures who wrote the history of the region.                                                                                               

What to see in Copertino

Copertino

Copertino

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