What is Campi Salentina known for?

Coat of arms is a sheaf of wheat; the Salento plain around the town has been the granary of the Terra d'Otranto since the medieval period. Built by Frederick II in 1220 as a summer residence, later turned into a Paladini-Enriquez marquisate seat by Philip II of Spain in 1627. Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera vineyards on the surrounding plain, part of the wider Salice Salentino DOC production area.

Where is Campi Salentina?

Campi Salentina is a comune in the province of Lecce, Apulia region of Italy, about 71 kilometers from Taranto.

Apulia · Lecce

Campi Salentina

A Salento plain town fifteen kilometers north of Lecce, founded after the Saracen raids of 926, with a Frederician castle that became a Paladini-Enriquez marquisate.

71 km / 44 mi

Nearest hub (Taranto)

9,777

Population

May–Sep

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Borghi Autentici

Why come

Campi Salentina sits on the Salento plain at forty-seven meters, fifteen kilometers north of Lecce. Menhirs around the territory point to Bronze Age occupation, but the town as such dates to 926, when Saracen raids destroyed the nearby villages of Afra, Bagnara, Firmignano, Ainoli and Terenzano and pushed survivors together at the current site. The Normans came in the eleventh century; Tancred of Altavilla donated Campi to the Bishop of Lecce, then Frederick II built a castle here in 1220 and used it as a summer residence. In 1522 the Paladini family bought the fief, and after Maria Paladini married Giovanni Enriquez, Philip II of Spain elevated Campi to a marquisate in 1627. The town earned the title of città by presidential decree in 1998. The coat of arms is a sheaf of wheat: locals call Campi the granary of the Terra d'Otranto, and the surrounding plain is olive groves and vines.

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Gallery

6 photos · scroll →

Known for

Castello dei Paladini-Enriquez
Frederician castle of 1220, used as a summer residence by Frederick II, later transformed by the Paladini and Enriquez families into a marquisate palace.
Chiesa Matrice di Santa Maria delle Grazie
Sixteenth-century mother church in the centro storico, rebuilt over the medieval foundations of the original village church.
Centro storico
Walled Salento old town around the castle and the chiesa matrice, with stone palazzi from the Paladini and Enriquez period.
Menhir di Campi Salentina
Bronze Age standing stones around the territory, evidence of pre-Roman occupation in the wider Salento megalithic landscape.

When to visit

Best months · May–Sep

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through September are the months the Salento plain is dry, mild and walkable. June through August reach the mid-thirties and the inland villages empty between two and five in the afternoon; Lecce and the Adriatic coast pull the day-trippers. April and October are the steadier months, the wine and olive work either starting or finishing, the light still soft. November through March is cool and wet on the plain; the centro storico stays open but the trattorie shorten hours. The patronal feast of the Madonna delle Grazie in early July runs the village for a week.