Martano

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Martano
Image:Martano-CoA.png
Municipal coat of arms
Country Flag of Italy Italy
Region Puglia
Province Lecce (LE)
Mayor Pasquale Conte
Elevation 92 m
Area 21 km²
Population
 - Total (as of December 31, 2004) 9,503
 - Density 453/km²
Time zone CET, UTC+1
Coordinates 40°12′N, 18°18′E
Gentilic Martanesi
Dialing code 0836
Postal code 73025
Frazioni None
Patron Mother of the Assumption
 - Day August 15
Website: http://www.comune.martano.le.it

Martano is a town of 9,503 inhabitants in the province of Lecce in Apulia, Italy. It is the biggest town of Grecìa Salentina, a Greek-speaking area where old people speak an ancient dialect called griko, and is 20 km from Lecce and 18 km from Otranto.

The old city
The old city

[edit] Sights

The main attraction in the town is the Baronal Castle, built in the 15th century, while the biggest churches are devoted to the Mother of the Assumption and to Madonna del Rosario. The town also owns the highest menhir in Apulia (Santu Totaru menhir, 4.80 mts) and an ancient Cistercians monastery devoted to the Mother of the Consolation.



[edit] Famous people

The list of famous people whom Martano gave birth includes Giuseppe Grassi, who signed the Constitution of Italy in 1948, Salvatore Trinchese, sea biologist and scientist of the 19th Century and Cosimo Moschettini, agricultural scientist of the Enlightenment.



Grecìa Salentina (Salentinian Greece) Salento
Calimera | Castrignano de' Greci | Corigliano d'Otranto | Martano | Martignano | Melpignano | Soleto | Sternatia | Zollino