Presicce

Presicce is a small town in the lower Salento, famous for hosting numerous underground oil mills (23) for which it was renamed with the name of “Città degli ipogei“. However, Presicce is not just this: the charm and beauty of Puglia seem concentrated in this unique, small Salento village. Presicce, in fact, is a mosaic of churches and stately buildings that embellish the historic center, alternating with the humble residences of the Courtyard Houses and the underground oil mills. Olive trees frame the village with their twisted shapes, dry stone walls tell long stories and wonderful Renaissance farmhouses alternate with eighteenth-century houses. The history of the town makes us understand well the reasons why Presicce has developed. First of all, the town is located in a valley that is particularly rich in water and it was probably the large presence of surface aquifers that attracted the first settlements. The Presicce coat of arms, a deer drinking from a water source, seems to recall precisely this abundance of water in the Presicese area. However, the town’s name seems to derive from the Latin word ‘praesidium’ as an ancient military garrison. In any case, the warm climate and fertile soil allowed the inhabitants from Presicce to develop the agricultural sector, particularly intensifying the production of olive oil, the main economic source of the country. Around the 11th-13th century the custom of digging underground cave mills, called trappeti, spread. The first were built on the slopes of the Serra di Pozzomauro; later, the activities began to move downstream and for centuries formed the backbone of the country’s economy. Towards the end of the 19th century the trappeti were abandoned, some transformed into landfills or cellars and the ones located in the countryside, transformed in sheepfolds or stables. Since the 1990s, subsequent reclamation and restructuring interventions have allowed the recovery of these environments as a tourist destination. They are absolutely worth visiting to learn about their history, how they work and relive the heavy working conditions of the ancient millers who for long months lived literally locked up in the oil mills together with the animals, never being able to go out. Another characteristic element of the ancient village of Presicce are the numerous courtyard houses. These are humble homes that date back to 1500 and have the particularity of being made up of a single room with the addition of a cellar. The courtyard houses are so called because they are gathered together in a single external space, called courtyard, where the main domestic activities took place. In ancient times, the court always housed a well (from which to extract water) and a wash stone, called pila, made from a single rock carved into it, where women washed their clothes. In the historic center of Presicce, however, there are also numerous important buildings. The Palazzo Ducale, located in Piazza del Popolo, is a noble building, dating back to the period of Norman domination, which in the past belonged to the Dukes of Paternò. Today the Palazzo Ducale is the official seat of the Museum of Rural Life and the hanging garden. The Casa Turrita, also known as the tower of San Vincenzo, is the most important testimony of the medieval history of Presicce. The original tower was built during the reign of Charles V, but in later times it was replaced by a building, which today is called Casa Turrita. The loopholes remain of the original ancient structure, located in the lower part of the building. Palazzo Pepe, also known as Corte Soronzi (named after one of the owners), belonged in the 1600s to the Pepe family, a wealthy Florentine family who owned a mill, an oil mill and several olive groves. Some churches also enrich the architectural context. The church of Sant’Andrea Apostolo, patron saint of Presicce, is today considered one of the most beautiful in the whole Ugento area. In late Baroque style, it was built on an old church from the 1500s, of which the ancient bell tower remains, and it is rich in plaster and polychrome marble. As in many churches of Salento, also in this one an altar is dedicated to S. Oronzo who protected this region from the plague of 1656. A few meters from its entrance there is the splendid column of Sant’Andrea, where in addition to the statue of the saint , the cardinal virtues (Fortitude, Justice, Prudence and Temperance) are depicted. A curiosity: the statue is not facing the church but towards Via Arditi because this was the ancient pilgrimage route to Santa Maria di Leuca. Finally, do not miss the Arditi chapel, located in the heart of the historic center of Presicce with its particular façade in which Baroque and Rococo styles alternate. Next to this stands the noble palace that belonged to the Arditi family, whose construction dates back to the end of the seventeenth century.

Inhabitants nickname: mascarani.