|
On the easternmost point of
Italy, is the ancient city of Otranto, surrounded by towered walls built in order to defend the city from the Saracen pirates
raids, among which it is still famous for unfortunate reasons the 1480’s one,
when, after fifteen days of siege, Otranto was conquered and
plundered by the Turks. During that raid 800 inhabitants and christians, then proclaimed martyres, were beheaded and their bones are now kept in 7 high shrines put in the Cathedral of the Annunziata, famous also for its wonderful mosaic flooring (1163-65), portraying a huge life tree around which there is a crowd of allegorical figures.
|
|
