Holiday apartment in Ugento: nature, museums and Messapian history

Ugento appeals to travellers who want to combine coastal landscapes and cultural history in a single holiday. When looking for a holiday apartment in Ugento, it is worth first considering the experiences that should shape your stay: nature trails and coastal areas on the one hand, museums and archaeological sites on the other. For your family, this change between activity, discovery and museum visits can be appealing when different preferences for the day come together.

Nature trail, beach and harbour

In the Parco Naturale Regionale Litorale di Ugento, a nature trail leads from the coast inland. Along the way, it crosses sandy and rocky coastal sections, wet areas behind the dunes, marshlands and Mediterranean maquis. The changing landscapes make the route an informative way to get to know Ugento on foot and with a view of nature. In the vicinity of Ugento, Torre San Giovanni has a six-kilometre-long beach with fine sand. Torre San Giovanni also has a small marina, dominated by a 16th-century tower on the waterfront.

Holiday apartment in Ugento for nature and history

The Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta houses the Museo della Diocesi di Ugento in its underground burial chambers. The Museo Diocesano displays silver chalices, parchment missals, statues of saints by artists from Salento who worked with papier-mâché, as well as paintings of the successive bishops. Palazzo Colosso preserves artefacts dating from the 6th century BC to the Early Middle Ages.

The Sistema Museale di Ugento includes sections on the necropolises of Ugento, the cults of Messapia and coins. The Alfredo Colosso collection in the Sistema Museale di Ugento comprises around 794 finds dating from the 7th century BC to the Early Middle Ages. The «Adolfo Colosso» collection comprises materials discovered in Ugento and its surrounding area in the 19th century. The Sistema Museale di Ugento is located at a necropolis where a museum with an ex situ exhibition has been established.

Messapian traces and tangible discoveries

Under Norman rule, Castello di Ugento became a true fortress towards the end of the 11th century. The best-preserved section of the Messapian fortification can be reached via a path beside a modern quarry and through a vineyard. This section was probably built in the second half of the 4th century BC, was 4,900 metres long and enclosed an area of around 145 hectares.

The necropolis visible today consists of around thirty shaft tombs carved into the underlying bedrock. The “Tomba dell'Atleta” was discovered in 1969 and has now been reconstructed in the Museo Civico di Archeologia. The Cripta del Crocefisso is located immediately south of the intersection of the roads to Melissano and Casarano.

Choose your holiday apartment in Ugento based on your interests

When choosing your accommodation, you can therefore first decide on the focus of your stay: nature trails and coastal areas, sandy beach and marina, or museums, fortress, necropolis and Messapian fortification. A holiday apartment in Ugento is a suitable option for a trip where you want to organise each day according to your own interests. This makes it easier to accommodate different preferences within the family without limiting the holiday to a single experience.

More destination ideas

For additional destination ideas, you can continue planning your trip with Alezio, Porto Badisco, San Foca, Squinzano, Marina San Gregorio, Villaggio Resta, San Pietro In Lama and Sant'isidoro.

To the higher-level travel overview: Lecce.