Gallipoli, short breaks and holidays

Just down the coast from Nardo, which came 5th in the 2008 Guida Bleu list of the best beaches in Italy. Gallipoli is ideal centre for a relaxing holiday or one spent exploring this quiet corner, the "heel of Italy". Also know as Puglia, Apulia has a coastline on the Adriatic and Ionian sea and with Gallipoli facing the Taranto Gulf.

The city of Gallipoli is a pearl within the blue waters of the Ionic sea. Gallipoli was an ancient town of fishermen and sailors, a fortress against the Turks, a place of oriental charm, with its wonderful beaches. Gallipoli is surrounded by beautiful historical monuments and is characterised by the fact that its division in the two areas: the old city and the new village. 

The historical centre rises on a calcareous island linked to the dry land by a brick bridge and is full of ancient buildings with frescoes and small alleys with restaurants and bars.

Immediately after crossing the bridge one faces the Greek-Roman fountain that is considered the most ancient of Italy. From here one enters immediately the new village of the town through Corso Roma that divides the town in two trunks called "sirocco" and "north wind".  

In order to face enemy attacks in 1500 the enclosure walls were built, but they were changed in height at the end of the nineteenth century, to leave the present panoramic road that surrounds the whole small island.