Grottaglie, (population 31.000) takes its name from the grottoes in its limestone rocks. The Chiesa Matrice, was erected in the late 11C or early 12C.the façade, which dates from 1379, includes a fine Apulian Romanesque portal with octagonal piers on zoomorphic supports. To the right of the façade can be seen the cupola of the Cappella del Rosario. The church of the Carmine, has a beautifully carved Nativity of 1530. Behind the massive castle lies the quarter of the celebrated Grottaglie ceramic workers, many of whom still use traditional methods. The countless vases that line the streets and the flat roofs of the houses are a strange sight.The 17C sanctuary of Santa Maria Mutuata, was erected on the site of a small basilica built by Basilian hermits and containing a heavily repainted medieval fresco of the Madonna and Child. The sanctuary also contains a 15C wooden crucifix. In the environs are the scanty remains of a Messapian settlement, consisting of low walls and tombs, as well as Roman tombs with Latin inscriptions.
At Francavilla Fontana are several interesting palazzo. The most impressive of these is the the square castle of the Imperiali Family, erected in 1450 by Giovanni Antonio del Balzo Orsini, enlarged in the mid-16C and rebuilt in 1730 by Michele Imperiali to plans by Ferdinando Sanfelice. The building is adorned with a graceful loggia and balcony surmounted by large windows in richly carved surrounds, all of Baroque workmanship. A wide doorway leads to the courtyard, where there are a portico, another loggia, and a 15C or 16C baptismal font. In the Sala del Consiglio, where the town council now meets, 16C and 17C paintings and a fireplace bearing the Imperiali arms can be seen. Nearby is the Duomo, a sober Baroque edifice with colossal statues of Saints Peter and Paul in the façade and a coloured-tile dome.
An interesting excursion can be made to the Specchia Maiano, north-east of Francavilla. Leave the town by the road signposted Ceglie Messapica. After c 8km a country lane diverges left to the Masseria Bottari, a farm; proceed on foot through the field on the right to (c 500m) the Specchia Maiano, a mysterious dry-work stone edifice of Messapian origin, 20m in diameter and 11m high, made up of six concentric steps of varying heights. Its purpose is unknown.
Oria (population 15.000), was the ancient Hyria, capital of the Messapians. During the Middle Ages an important Jewish colony lived here, and the Giudecca quarter is still distinguishable. The massive castle, stands in an indomitable position on top of the ancient acropolis. It is triangular in plan, the tall enceinte surrounding a spacious garden. The south wall, which faces the town, had three towers: one of these, the four-sided bastion at the south-west corner, was originally the keep of the primitive fortification (see below); the others, built in the Angevin period, are cylindrical in form with rings of corbels that once supported wooden battlements.
Within are a vaulted hall containing a modest collection of antiquities and the rebuilt Norman keep, a tall room with pointed vaults on heavy piers which was once divided, with two floors, as the remains of a fireplace high up on one wall attest, and now contains a collection of arms and armour. A small stairway mounts to the battlements and the Angevin towers, from the tops of which there is a marvellous view of the town and the Tavoliere di Lecce. The much-restored Palazzo del Castellano extends along the north-west wall. Across the garden (open by special permission only; apply to custodian), among the cypresses at the foot of the south-east tower, steps descend to the Cripta di Santi Crisante e Daria, an underground chapel dating from the 9C or earlier. The interior is basilican in form, with three aisles, cruciform piers and four shallow domes (a fifth dome, in the left arm of the transept, was destroyed to make the present entrance). The Centro di Documentazione Messapica in Via Russo (open Mon-Sat 08.30-13.30; Tel. +39 0831/845703) has interesting Messapian artefacts and a dig on the premises.
The Museo Civico (in the Palazzo Comunale, open by appointment; Tel. +39 0831/845703) houses a small collection of Messapian and Graeco-Roman material. The Baroque cathedral, rebuilt after an earthquake of 1743, has a tall, coloured-tile dome of kind common in this area.
The road follows the final courses of the ancient Via Appia, through olive groves and vineyards. Latiano (population 16.000) has a Palazzo Comunale, originally 12C rebuilt in 1526 and 1724. At Muro Tenente (also called Paretone), to the south-east of the town, are the remains of Messapian walls and tombs identified by some with the Scamnum mentioned in the Tabula Peuntingeriana as lying along the Via Appia between Taranto and Brindisi.
Latiano can be reached directly from Oria by a country road that follows more or less the same course as the railway, passing (3km left) the ruined church of the Madonna di Gallana, which contains, in the apse, a large Byzantine fresco of the Blessing Christ between two Angels, in poor repair. From here you may proceed directly to Mesagne (see below) without returning to the main road.
Mesagne, (population 31.000), is the ancient Messania. In the old town is the castle, built by Robert Guiscard in 1062, destroyed (together with the town) by Manfred's Saracens in 1254, rebuilt by Manfred himself in 1256 and enlarged and embellished in the 15C and 17C. It was transformed into a lordly residence, as the Renaissance loggia that runs along the north and east façades clearly demonstrates. The Palazzo del Municipio, formerly a Celestine convent, houses the Museo Archeologico U. Granafei (open Tues-Sat 09.00-12.00, 18.00-21.00, Sun and hols 18.00-22.00), which contains Messapian ware of the 7C-2C BC, Roman inscriptions, and other material of interest. The Baroque Chiesa Madre has a Gothic Crypt with a 16C crucifix and numerous paintings by local artists. On the outskirts of the town lies the little 7C church of San Lorenzo, partially rebuilt in the 17C. recent restoration has brought some frescoes to light, probably dating from the 15C.