APULIA - SALENTO REGIONAL PARK

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"Salento" (Salentu in local dialect) is the south-eastern extremity of the Apulia region of Italy. It is a sub-peninsula of the main Italian peninsula, sometimes described as the "heel" of the Italian "boot". It encompasses the administrative areas of Brindisi, Lecce and Taranto provinces.

The peninsula is also known as Terra d'Otranto, and in ancient times was called variously Messapia, Calabria, and Salentina.

Salento peninsula is a rock of limestone dividing the Adriatic Sea from the Ionian Sea. Known also as "peninsula salentina", from a geo-morphologic point of view it encompasses the land borders between Ionian sea and the Adriatic sea to the "messapic threshold", a depression that runs along the Taranto-Ostuni line and separates it from the Murge.

A number of places, the coasts above all, are remarkable landscapes and environments, among them the "Alimini Lakes", on the Adriatic coast, and "Porto Selvaggio", on the Ionic coast.
The soil is very fertile, some of the finest olive trees and grapes grow here, and their products are exported worldwide.

Its coasts are varied, and can be sandy or rocky, but all boast pristine beaches and crystal-clear waters. Some of the most renowned locations in Salento for summer holidays (from May/June to September) are: Ostuni, Oria, Ugento, Manduria, Porto Cesareo, Gallipoli, Torre dell'Orso, Otranto, Santa Maria di Leuca.

Salento is a peaceful land full of history and traditions whose strong points are its natural and architectural beauties, its hospitality, its magic atmosphere, its several wonders to discover, its warm sun, its blue sky, its crystal sea and its dreamlike coast.