San Giorgio Ionico

San Giorgio Ionico
—  Comune  —
Comune di San Giorgio Ionico
San Giorgio Ionico
Location of San Giorgio Ionico in Italy
Coordinates:
Country Italy
Region Puglia
Province Taranto (TA)
Frazioni Contrada San Giovanni
Government
 • Mayor Angelo Venneri
Area
 • Total 23 km2 (8.9 sq mi)
Elevation 75 m (246 ft)
Population (28 February 2007)[1]
 • Total 15,919
 • Density 692.1/km2 (1,792.6/sq mi)
Demonym Sangiorgesi
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 74027
Dialing code 099
Patron saint San Giorgio
Saint day 23 April
Website Official website

San Giorgio Ionico is a town and comune in the province of Taranto, in the northern Salento, part of the Apulia region of southeast Italy.

History

Human settlements in the area date to as early as the 3rd century BC, as shown byt he findings of remains of Iron Age, Hellenistic and Roman structures, and a 4th/3rd century BC necropolis.

The town itself developed starting from the 10th century AD, when refugees from Taranto, then being under the Saracen assault, established near the current Chiesa Madre (Mother Church). New migrants came in the 15th century after the arrival of the Albanian leader Skanderbeg. The town is first mentioned, however, only in 1522.

Population increased in the 1970s when, aside from the traditional agricultural economy, the services and industrial sectors started to expand.

References

  1. ^ Population from ISTAT