Grottaglie

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Comune di Grottaglie
Municipal coat of arms
Country	Italy
Region	Puglia
Province	Taranto (TA)
Mayor

Elevation	133 m
Area	101 km²
Population
- Total (as of December 31, 2004)	32,460
- Density	309/km²
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	40°32′N 17°26′E
Gentilic	Grottagliesi
Dialing code	099
Postal code	74023
Frazioni	Carraro delle Vacche, Paparazio
Patron	St. Francis from Geronimo, St. Cyrus
- Day	January 31
Location of Grottaglie in Italy
Website: www.comune.grottaglie.ta.it

Grottaglie is a town in the province of Taranto, Puglia, southern Italy.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Main sights
4 Culture
5 Economy

[edit] Geography

Grottaglie is located in the Salento peninsula, a whole rock of limestone dividing Adriatic sea from Ionian sea. The countryside around the city is scattered with vast and deep ravines that open the ground into the heart of the limestone-rock. The landscape is characterized by the presence of such ancient and enthralling rupestrian ravine encircling the built-up area.

[edit] History

The name Grottaglie derives from the Latin Cryptae Aliae, meaning “many ravines”, which have been inhabited since the Palaeolithic Age. The ancestral part of Grottaglie was one of the citadels in the area, referred in the Medieval documents as Casale Cryptaleum, which was founded during the Dark Ages by the inhabitants of the caves who sheltered because of the Saracen invasions.

The fief of Grottaglie was donated by the Norman overlords to the archbishopric of Taranto in the 11th century. In the 14th century the ecclesiastic administration provided the fief with fortifications, walls, a castle (Castello Episcopio, Italian for “archbishop’s castle”) as well as with the Chiesa Matrice ("Mother church").

Since 15th-17th centuries the jurisdiction over Grottaglie fief was split between the ecclesiastic administration (civil law) and the lay feudal lords (criminal law, Cicinelli-Caracciolo family). Fights between these two competing authorities and periodic revolts by the heavily-taxed population were the leit-motiv of Grottaglie’s history until the abolition of feudalism (1806). After the Italian unification Grottaglie had the first urban expansion outside its Medieval walls.

[edit] Main sights

The massive Castello Episcopio (13th century).
The Chiesa Matrice, dating back to 1379.
The Purgatory Oratory.
Palazzo Cicinelli, household of the Prince of Cursi and residence of the feudal lords of the town.
Monastery of San Francesco di Paola, representing the greatest Baroque monument in the city. It has a splendid cloistered-court inside.
The 'Chiesa del Carmine, housing a 1530 stone crib scene made by Stefano from Putignano.
Palazzo Urselli, with pre-baroque façade massive entrance-door and impressive internal courtyard
Palazzo Maggiulli-Cometa whose structure is similar to Palazzo Urselli’s.
Palazzo Blasi' with its Baroque façade.

[edit] Culture

Folkloristic and religious events include the commemoration-day of St. Cyrus and Easter-period when the Medieval-rooted confraternal religious orders perform their processions during the days of the Holy Week (Easter rituals include procession and pilgrimage of confrères called “Bubbli-Bubbli” through the streets of town).

Other events include:

The exhibition “Ceramica nel Quartiere delle Ceramiche”
The Mediterranean ceramics contest, theatrical and musical events
Promotion of dessert grapes, months of July-August-September
Exhibition-contest about ceramic crib scene during the months of December and January
“Musica Mundi” – international festival of ethnic music in July.

[edit] Economy

Grapes and ceramics-industry are two traditional elements of the local economy since the times of Greater Greece.

The numerous ceramic finds, tracing back to the Classical Age and kept in the National Museum of "Magna Grecia" in Taranto, reveal the antique roots of this handicrafts production which was privileged by the presence of considerable amounts of clay in the surrounding territory. More recently, records dating back to the 18th century report at the time 42 companies in Grottaglie operating in the ceramics-sector with a total of 5,000 employees. In addition to ceramics, also agricultural products such as olive oil and excellent choice dessert grapes are of great importance.