How To Shine Rosewood

Published in the New Country 13 February 2011

Places of Salento / Oria

This Sunday we cross the administrative and territorial borders of the province represented by the dolphin who holds the teeth the Turkish crescent, to chase the deer symbol of the second province unless Extended Region or Brindisi. Along the hilly path in the hinterland of northern Salento, not far from the Roman Via Appia, rises from Murge limited to North and South from the Ionian Sea, a hill on which stands the center of the city of Oria architecturally powerful portrait of the castle Swabian.

Even in the case of Oria, the origins of the founding of the city fade from the dark depths of history to rise up to the legend, it is said that Herodotus of Halicarnassus, one of the first historical of the ancient world if not the first great historian, greek, considered by Cicero as the "father of history," greek and geographer Strabo, have commented on the unfortunate events of a group of castaways from Cretan Minos, which fortunately landed on the Ionian Sea in 1200 BC, decided to found on the top of the hill overlooking the valley, the archaic Hyria. Despite the natural course of history, which saw this area as the consequential evidence of civilization messapi, Romans, Byzantines, Lombards, a reminder of the "chivalrous" Norman period dated around the ninth century AD

The territory was conquered in 1062 by family Altavilla; while during the rule of Stupor mundi (Emperor Frederick II of Swabia) must, in addition to the numerous renovations of the old fortified town in mediaeval times, the construction of the Castello Svevo placed on the highest part of Oria in about 170 feet above from the sea. The castle was built on the orders of the Emperor between 1225 and 1233, to extend the curtain robust architecture that characterizes the fortification of the whole territory of Puglia, from the sketches penned by scholar Cosimo de Giorgi (1842-1922) who visited the manor In June 1880, we learn that "the Swabian fort has a shape of an isosceles triangle, with the top facing north and base in the south, which dominates the countryside of this part of Terra d'Otranto, the southern summits culminate in two cylindrical towers (the Torre and the Torre del Salto del Cavaliere), while in the north there is a vertex there is a great big square tower, called Tower of the Spur. The south wall of the castle is what remains of the cathedral, around one thousand, had taken, in part, the place of the old buildings messapici. The City is divided into four districts, namely that the highest part of residence of the castle is dedicated to the powerful military structure and is characterized by an iconographic red tower surmounted by a crown on a blue background; the second quarter draws the colony of Jews in the area, this is distinguished by the coat of arms depicting a seven-branched candelabrum, the third ward is located on the "blade" that is the plain where the waters flowed into the castle, a tree is visible in the banner orange and a well, both symbols refer to the will of St. Francis of Assisi to leave traces of his journey on earth Oria. The last quarter comes from the presence of the Colle di San Basilio, while crest consists of a Greek cross with stars at the corners.

The Castle, known as "Giant gem stone," is facing a long distance with other castles in Brindisi and the best known and octagonal Castel del Monte, the keep of Oria is completed later by cylindrical towers of the Anjou, near the Torre del Salto is located above the crypt of archaic Saints Crisante and Daria patrons from the city.

Like any good self-respecting castle, around the imposing walls we see a fine misty haze, which calls to mind the legend of fuomsa Oria "in these parts is said of the gesture of a girl who committed suicide by throwing himself through the heart or to escape from the castle tower to the wishes fiery of a castle. Another version tells of the macabre desperation of a mother who had to sacrifice his daughter on the advice of the oracle so that the castle walls collapsing, cursed the city: "May you smoke Oria, as the smoke My heart exasperated. " Passing one of the three doors that enclose the port town that is Lecce, built around 1727, we return home.

Giuseppe Arnesano