Ostuni
Ostuni | |
---|---|
Comune di Ostuni | |
UTC+2 (CEST) | |
Postal code | 72017 |
Dialing code | 0831 |
Patron saint | St. Orontius of Lecce |
Saint day | August 26 |
Website | Official website |
Ostuni (
History
The region around Ostuni has been inhabited since the
Little is also known about the etymology of the name Ostuni. According to one theory, the name could derive from Messapic. Others think it derives from the Greek Astu néon ("new town"). It could derive from the Latin Hostium Unio, which indicates "a group of people of different origins".[3]
Sacked after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, in 996 AD the town became part of the Norman County of
Main sights
The "Old Town" is Ostuni's citadel built on top of a hill and still fortified by the ancient walls. Ostuni is commonly referred to as "the White Town" (La Città Bianca in Italian) for its white walls and its typically white-painted architecture. Monuments in their own right, the town's largest buildings are the Ostuni Cathedral and the Bishop's Palace, together with a number of palazzi of local aristocratic families: Aurisicchio, Ayroldi, Bisantizzi, Falghieri, Ghionda, Giovine, Jurleo, Marseglia, Moro, Palmieri, Petrarolo, Sansone, Siccoda, Tanzarella, Urselli and Zaccaria.
In the surrounding countryside there are typical Pugliese "masserie", fortified large estate-farms, one of which, San Domenico, was once held by the Knights of Malta.
Tourism
Ostuni is the fifth city in Italy by percentage of British residents and the first for sale of houses and villas. Starting from 2010, Ostuni and its nearest towns were characterized by so many arrivals from foreign countries, that some local and national newspapers coined a new term, "salentoshire" to describe this phenomenon, taking the term from the useful "chiantishire", taken for the similar phenomenon that has characterized Tuscany some years ago.
References
- ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ISTAT
- ^ "Comune di Ostuni - Storia". Italiapedia.it. Retrieved September 5, 2022.