Cavallino in Salento: Messapian History and Architecture

Cavallino is located in Salento, around 5 kilometres south of the Baroque splendour of Lecce. The town combines a Messapian past, Renaissance architecture and a rural cultural landscape.

Messapian History and Museums

The Museo Diffuso di Cavallino opened in 2003 on the site of a significant Messapian settlement. This settlement was discovered in the second half of the 19th century by Sigismondo Castromediano. In 2015, the museum was recognised as an ecomuseum of regional interest. The MUDI – Museo Didattico Archeologico also opened in 2015 in a former kindergarten renovated by the municipality. The MUDI presents the history of the Messapians who lived in the settlement of Cavallino.

Rural Cultural Landscape

The Museo Diffuso di Cavallino also preserves a rural cultural landscape with dry-stone walls and spontaneous vegetation. Dry-stone walls consist of stacked stones and form visible boundaries in the landscape. Spontaneous vegetation refers to plants that grow without formal landscaping. Cavallino can also be explored as part of the “Itinerari del cielo”.

Palace Architecture and the Renaissance

The Castello Ducale Castromediano-Limburg was transformed into a ducal palace and the residence of the Dukes of Castromediano-Limburg in the 17th century. Before that, it had been structurally extended and remodelled between 1565 and 1578 and again in the 17th century. On the main square, the feudal palace of the Castromediano family preserves several original Renaissance-style architectural elements, including a façade and a loggia with balustrades. A loggia is a covered architectural element open to the outside; a balustrade consists of articulated supports and forms a parapet. A façade is the exterior face of a building. A ducal palace is a stately residential and representative building of its period.

The Renaissance façade of the Ex Convento and the Renaissance architectural elements of the palace are two concrete examples of architecture in Cavallino.

Churches, Monastery and Fortifications

The Chiesa Maria Ss. Assunta dates from the 16th century. The Ex Convento dei Padri Domenicani has a Renaissance-style façade and is arranged around a cloister made of Lecce stone, which is used for exhibitions and cultural events. A cloister is a passageway running around an inner courtyard; its form distinguishes it from the enclosed ground-floor rooms. On the ground floor of the Ex Convento, visitors can see the former refectory, kitchen, parlour and other service rooms where the brothers’ daily life took place. A refectory is a monastery’s dining room. Next to the monastery, the Church of San Nicolò e San Domenico has a longitudinal layout with three naves. A longitudinal layout arranges the sequence of spaces along a longitudinal axis; three naves divide the church interior. In church architecture, a nave is a longitudinally oriented part of the building. The northeastern gate is the best-preserved gate of Cavallino’s fortifications. A gate in a fortification marks an opening in the defensive line.

More places for planning your trip to Italy: Cerfignano, Torre Mozza, Torre Lapillo, Muro Leccese, Salice Salentino, Sant'isidoro, Surano and Veglie.

To the higher-level travel overview: Lecce.