Otranto
Otranto
Oṭṛàntu ( | |
---|---|
Comune di Otranto | |
UTC+2 (CEST) | |
Postal code | 73028 |
Dialing code | 0836 |
Patron saint | Blessed Otrantine Martyrs |
Saint day | August 14 |
Website | Official website |
Otranto (
It is located on the east coast of the Salento peninsula. The Strait of Otranto, to which the city gives its name, connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea and separates Italy from Albania. The harbour is small and has little trade.[7]
The lighthouse Faro della Palascìa, at approximately 5 kilometres (3 miles) southeast of Otranto, marks the most easterly point of the Italian mainland.
About 50 kilometres (31 mi) south lies the promontory of Santa Maria di Leuca (so called since ancient times from its white cliffs, leukos being Greek for white), the southeastern extremity of Italy, the ancient Promontorium Iapygium or Sallentinum. The district between this promontory and Otranto is thickly populated and very fertile.[7]
The area that lies between Otranto and
History
Otranto occupies the site of the ancient Greek city of Magna Graecia Hydrus (in Greek: Ὑδροῦς) or Hydruntum (in Latin), also known as Hydrunton, Hydronton, or Hydruntu. Otranto was a town of Messapian (Illyrian) origin, which, in the wars of Pyrrhus and of Hannibal sided against Rome.
In Roman times it was a city. As it is the nearest port to the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, it was perhaps more important than
In the 8th century, it was for some time in the possession of duke Arechis II of Benevento.
On 17 August 928, the city was sacked by a
Ottoman invasion
In 1480, Sultan
Between August and September 1480, the Italian and European kingdoms failed to help King Ferdinand of Naples except for his cousin Ferdinand the Catholic of Spain, the Kingdom of Sicily and later the Republic of Genoa.[10] In 1481, the Pope, in panic, called for a crusade to be led by King Ferdinand of Naples and was joined by troops of Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus. The Ottomans controlled the city for 13 months. Mehmed II died on his way to capture the rest of Italy.[11] His successor, Sultan Bayezid II, ordered Gedik Ahmed Pasha to be hanged. On 11 September 1481, the Ottomans abandoned the city.
In 1537, the famous Ottoman corsair and admiral
Napoleonic Wars
In 1804, the city was obliged to harbour a French garrison that was established there to watch the movements of the English fleet.[
World War I
During WWI the allied Italian-French-British Fleet organized the Otranto Barrage to control the Austro-Hungarian Fleet in the Adriatic Sea. The Austro-Hungarian Fleet led by captain Miklós Horthy attacked the Barrage (13 -15 May 1917) breaking it and sinking some British drifters (Battle of the Strait of Otranto (1917)).[12]
World War II
During WWII the British fleet raided the Otranto Channel (11-12 November 1940) as a diversionary manoeuvre (
Geography
Climate
Otranto experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with long, hot summers and short, cool winters.
Climate data for Otranto | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 13.0 (55.4) |
13.5 (56.3) |
15.7 (60.3) |
18.9 (66.0) |
24.4 (75.9) |
27.0 (80.6) |
28.7 (83.7) |
28.5 (83.3) |
25.8 (78.4) |
22.3 (72.1) |
17.3 (63.1) |
14.0 (57.2) |
20.8 (69.4) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 7.2 (45.0) |
8.2 (46.8) |
9.6 (49.3) |
10.0 (50.0) |
12.1 (53.8) |
15.9 (60.6) |
21.2 (70.2) |
21.1 (70.0) |
16.0 (60.8) |
12.7 (54.9) |
10.3 (50.5) |
8.3 (46.9) |
12.7 (54.9) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 52 (2.0) |
60 (2.4) |
81 (3.2) |
83.3 (3.28) |
83.6 (3.29) |
110.7 (4.36) |
85.8 (3.38) |
67.5 (2.66) |
114.6 (4.51) |
100.2 (3.94) |
80.7 (3.18) |
53.3 (2.10) |
972.2 (38.28) |
Average precipitation days | 6.7 | 7.1 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 6.9 | 7.3 | 5.8 | 5.1 | 7.7 | 7.5 | 7.2 | 6.6 | 84.2 |
Source: Italian Ministry of Defence[14] |
Main sights
Otranto main sights include:
- The Castello Aragonese (Castle), reinforced by Emperor draw-bridge. Towers include three cylindrical ones and a bastion called Punta di Diamante ("Diamond's Head"). The entrance sports the coat of arms of Emperor Charles V.
- The Cathedral, consecrated in 1088, a work of Count Roger I adorned later (about 1163), by Bishop Jonathas, with a mosaic floor; it has a rose window and side portal of 1481. The interior, a basilica with nave and two aisles, contains columns said to come from a temple of Minerva and a fine mosaic pavement of 1166, with interesting representations of the months, Old Testament subjects and others.[7] Bones and relics of the Martyrs of Otranto, who perished in the 15th-century siege surround the high altar. The church has a crypt supported by 42 marble columns. The same Count Roger also founded a Basilian monastery here, which, under Abbot Nicetas, became a place of study; its library was nearly all bought by Bessarion.
- The church of San Pietro, with Byzantine frescoes.
- The catacombs of Torre Pinta.
- Idro, a small river which the toponym Otranto stems from.
Culture
Otranto is the setting of Horace Walpole's book The Castle of Otranto, which is generally held to be the first Gothic novel. Walpole had chosen the town from a map of the Kingdom of Naples because the name was "well-sounding"; he was not aware that Otranto had a castle until 1786, some twenty-two years after the novel was first published under a pseudonym. The principal model for the castle was his villa in Strawberry Hill, London.[15]
Otranto is also mentioned in Bram Stoker's novel The Lady of the Shroud.
International relations
Twin towns – Sister cities
Otranto is
See also
- Bishopric of Otranto
- Martyrs of Otranto
- Otranto Tragedy
- Ottoman invasion of Otranto
Sources
- public domain: Ashby, Thomas (1911). "Otranto". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 367. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Otranto". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- Heraldica.org- Napoleonic
- GigaCatholic
References
- ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ "Otranto, Strait of". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press.[dead link]
- ^ "Otranto". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
- ^ "Otranto". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
- ^ "Puglia" (in Italian). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ a b c d Ashby 1911.
- ISBN 978-3-406-35497-7.
- ^ "Pope canonises 800 Italian Ottoman victims of Otranto". BBC. 12 May 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
- ^ G. Conte, Una flotta siciliana ad Otranto (1480), in "Archivio Storico Pugliese", a. LXVII, 2014
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Carlo Stasi, Otranto e l'Inghilterra (episodi bellici in Puglia e nel Salento), in Note di Storia e Cultura Salentina, anno XV, pp. 127–159, (Argo, Lecce, 2003), Paul G. Halpern, The Battle of the Otranto Straits (controlling the Gateway to the Adriatic in WWI) (Bloomington, I.U.P. 2004).
- ISBN 978-88-31964-06-7, Thomas P. Lowry, The Attack on Taranto (Stackpoole Books paperbacks, 2000)
- ^ Lecce-Galatina weather station[permanent dead link] Italian Ministry of Defence Retrieved 2009-06-02
- ISBN 978-88-31964-06-7
External links
- Media related to Otranto at Wikimedia Commons
- Otranto travel guide from Wikivoyage
- archdiocsan website (in Italian)
- Adrian Fletcher's Paradoxplace – Otranto Cathedral Mosaics Photo Page
- Otrano Video in English