Leaving Otranto by the castle, a road on the left climbs to the hill of Minerva, the name of which may allude to an ancient temple to the goddess; A staircase ascends past the spot where the survivors of the attack of 1480 were executed; at the top of the steps is the 16C church of San Francesco di Paola, incorporating the chapel (Santa Maria dei Martiri) erected by Alfonso of Aragon to commemorate the massacre. Along the rocky promontory that terminates in the Cape of Otranto, the easternmost point of Italy, lie the ruins (right) of the Basilian abbey of San Nicola di Casole, founded in the late Middle Ages, rebuilt in the 12C and destroyed by the Turks in 1480. in clear weather the view stretches across the Strait of Otranto to Albania and further south, to Corfù.
The Grotta dei Cervi, a complex of caves, several kilometres long, contains Neolithic paintings of hunting scenes and magic symbols and rich formations of stalactites. The caves are not open to the public; but numerous objects found on the site as well as colour photographs of the paintings will be housed in an antiquarium. Santa Cesarea Terme is a bathing resort and spa commanding views to the mountains of Albania. Beyond, the coastal road winds past Porto Miggiano, along sheer cliffs covered with prickly pear.
The Grotta Zinzulusa (open by appointment, tel. +39 0836/943812), a long (140m) marine cavern, rich in stalagmites and stalactites (zinzuli in local dialect), was occupied in the Upper Palaeolithic period (c 10.000 BC) and in the Copper Age; it is beloved by zoologists for its peculiar species of small crustacean, which seem to have originated in the eastern Adriatic and suggest that this part of Italy was at one time united to the Balkan peninsula. Nearby, but somewhat difficult to access, is the Grotta Romanelli, discovered in 1879 and also inhabited in the Upper Palaeolithic period. The flint implements found here have given their name to a variant of the so-called Gravettian industry, figures of animals, stylistically similar to groups in France and Spain, have been found engraved on the walls and on loose blocks of stone. Fossil animal remains discovered in the sediment include warm-climate animals (elephant, hippopotamus and rhinoceros) in the lower levels and cold-climate creatures (goat, northern and steppe birds) in the upper levels. They provide evidence of a variance in the sea level in the Quaternary period, as a result of climate change.
Continuing south, you round a headland to Castro Marina, a fishing village and resort with a small, cliff-bound harbour. From here a winding road climbs up to Castro (population 2000), a fortified town with a Romanesque cathedral, perhaps the ancient Castrum Minervae, where Aeneas first approached the Italian shore (Aeneid III, 521). The castle, erected in 1572, stands on the site of a Roman fortification later used by the Byzantines and the Normans. The former cathedral retains parts of its 12C façade, transept and lateral portals. The north aisle incorporates the remains of a 10C Byzantine church. The town offers magnificent views of the sea and the coastline.
At Andrano the 13C castle was made over into an imposing palazzo by the Caracciolo in the 17C. Tricase, 4km inland, is a large (population 17000) agricultural town with a 14C castle rebuilt and extended in the 16C, and a Chiesa Matrice (1170) containing a Deposition and an Immacolata by Palma Giovane.
From Tricase Porto the road climbs to Marina Serra and Marina di Novaglie, then crosses a relatively uninhabited stretch of coastline before reaching Capo Santa Maria di Leuca (deriving its name from the Greek leucos, white), a conspicuous limestone cliff (60m), the Iapygium or Salentinum Promontorium of the Romans, with a light house. The actual southernmost point of Apulia is the Punta Ristola, to the west. Marina di Leuca, below the cape, is popular for bathing. The church of Santa Maria Finibus Terrae stands on the site of a Temple of Minerva, close to the point where the Apulian aqueduct ends in an artificial cascade (usually dry).
Boat trips can be made to the several caves on the north-west shore of the cape, beyond Punta Ristola. Among these are the Grotta del Diavolo, which has yielded fossil remains of warm-climate animals and Neolithic flint, bone and ceramic objects; the Grotta della Stalla and Grotta Treporte with their beautiful effects of light and colour, and the Grotta del Bambino, also inhabited in prehistoric times. To the east lie the Grotta Cassafra and the Grotta Grande di Ciolo, both of which present interesting structural and atmospheric effects.