Grottaglie today is a city rich in museums, churches and various works of ceramics which make it appreciated from a cultural point of view. It is also able to offer the enhancement of the typical products of the agro-food sector and a really suggestive way to admire the wonderful landscape of the Salento hinterland through…
Grottaglie resumed a real growth and economic stability, focusing mainly on ceramics and agriculture, which has allowed it to be recognized today as the “City of Ceramics” or the “City of Grapes”.
In the years of the Risorgimento, the caves once again became a source of refuge for brigands, turning the village into one of the main centres of the phenomenon of brigandage. Famous, in fact, is the Caverna del brigante Ciro Annicchiarico (famous brigante born in Grottaglie and called in dialect “Papa Ggiro“). This period led…
Difficulties and political crises led to a “cohabitation” of two different feudal jurisdictions: a bishopric and a lay one. This bond weighed negatively during the Bourbon reign due to the numerous power struggles between bishops and lay feudal lords who dragged the village down to the abolition of feudalism.
This is recovery period for the town. Normans decided to donate the “Casale Cryptalearum” and all its goods to the Archiepiscopal Canteen of Taranto, starting a large economic cycle and strongly linking the social, political and religious life conditions of the town to the Taranto archbishops. The archbishopric played a role of fundamental importance for…
With the arrival of the Romans in the village they began to build canals and aqueducts, which guaranteed important benefits to the community. Later, however, the fall of the Roman Empire and the subsequent barbarian incursions led Grottaglie to go through a period of economic and social difficulties.
Since the Palaeolithic age, man and cattle have lived in the Grottaglie’s caves, rich in natural ravines where they could find shelter, water and flora necessary to provide food for the pets and to ensure their survival. When the Saracens attacked southern Italy, many people fled and took refuge in the caves of this territory,…
Aigion in prehistoric times Significant findings from prehistoric times, mainly of the Early Helladic (3rd millennium BC) and the Middle Helladic period (first half of the 2nd millennium BC), which came to light during excavations in various parts of the modern city, confirm the existence of Aigio from prehistoric times. Source: IMAGE: 6th Ephorate of…
Aigion in bronze age (Mycenaean civilization) Aigion flourished in the Mycenaean years (15th-11th century BC). It belonged to the kingdom of Mycenae, as mentioned in the Homeric epics, being the last city of the kingdom to the west. Together with his neighbor Eliki, it was one of the cities that participated in the Trojan war…
The lost city of Helike In 373 BC, a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami destroyed and submerged the ancient Greek city of Helike, on the southwest shore of the Gulf of Corinth. The sunken city gradually silted over until it disappeared without a trace. Ancient writers ascribed the disaster to the wrath of Poseidon, god of…