Italy-Otranto
78 images Created 6 May 2010
Otranto, the easternmost city in Italy.
Otranto has a rich history, starting with the Messapi,the Greeks, and the Romans. The importance of its harbor had given it the role of a bridge between East and West, consolidated on Byzantine times, also with the presence of an important monastery of Basilian monks, San Nicola in Casole. In 1095, in its splendid cathedral church built between 1080 and 1088, the blessing was imparted to the twelve thousand crusaders who, under the command of prince Boemondo I d'Altavilla, were leaving to liberate and protect the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. But on July 29, 1480 a Turkish fleet with 18,000 soldiers on board landed near Otranto. The Spanish soldiers fled and only the inhabitants remained to defend Otranto. After fourteen days, on August 12, the Ottomans poured into the streets and came to the cathedral, where many had taken refuge. They found the archbishop, Stefano, in his pontifical vestments and this his head was cut off with a scimitar. After few days 813 prisoners were beheaded on nearly Hill of Minerva. Since it was only 28 years after the fall of Constantinople, there was some fear that Rome would suffer the same fate, and plans were made for the Pope and citizens of Rome to evacuate the city. Pope Sixtus IV called for a crusade and in 1481 an army was raised by king Ferdinand I of Naples and the Turkish occupation of Otranto ended by negotiation with the Christian forces that recaptured Otranto. Nearly Albania's, 60 miles far on the other side of Otranto Canal, former Communists were routed in elections March 1992, causing economic collapse and social unrest. Many thousand of Albanians migrated to western Europe, mainly by boats, often landing near Otranto, and in 1997 dozens of Albanians died here aboard a boat accidentally sunk by the Italian navy. Today Otranto is a small beautiful city surrounded by imposing wall dating from Turkish invasion of the only one Western Europe city, living of tourism and agricolture.
Otranto has a rich history, starting with the Messapi,the Greeks, and the Romans. The importance of its harbor had given it the role of a bridge between East and West, consolidated on Byzantine times, also with the presence of an important monastery of Basilian monks, San Nicola in Casole. In 1095, in its splendid cathedral church built between 1080 and 1088, the blessing was imparted to the twelve thousand crusaders who, under the command of prince Boemondo I d'Altavilla, were leaving to liberate and protect the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. But on July 29, 1480 a Turkish fleet with 18,000 soldiers on board landed near Otranto. The Spanish soldiers fled and only the inhabitants remained to defend Otranto. After fourteen days, on August 12, the Ottomans poured into the streets and came to the cathedral, where many had taken refuge. They found the archbishop, Stefano, in his pontifical vestments and this his head was cut off with a scimitar. After few days 813 prisoners were beheaded on nearly Hill of Minerva. Since it was only 28 years after the fall of Constantinople, there was some fear that Rome would suffer the same fate, and plans were made for the Pope and citizens of Rome to evacuate the city. Pope Sixtus IV called for a crusade and in 1481 an army was raised by king Ferdinand I of Naples and the Turkish occupation of Otranto ended by negotiation with the Christian forces that recaptured Otranto. Nearly Albania's, 60 miles far on the other side of Otranto Canal, former Communists were routed in elections March 1992, causing economic collapse and social unrest. Many thousand of Albanians migrated to western Europe, mainly by boats, often landing near Otranto, and in 1997 dozens of Albanians died here aboard a boat accidentally sunk by the Italian navy. Today Otranto is a small beautiful city surrounded by imposing wall dating from Turkish invasion of the only one Western Europe city, living of tourism and agricolture.
