BIKE TOUR IN GRAVEL – IN THE LAND OF HYPOGEA AND MONOLITHS

A nice bike tour in gravel bike since including several gravel paths in the countryside between Minervino and Otranto.

You start from the center of Minervino and, crossing the Via Appia Traiana calabro salentina, you proceed in the direction of Otranto. You ride on municipal roads with little traffic, which become gravel paving as you get closer to the port of Otranto. The route also follows the Via Francigena for a stretch, in the path that goes up towards the Abbey of San Nicola di Casole, with a mixed gravel and stone pavement. The abbey is now mostly destroyed, in addition to being private property, but it is still possible to imagine, from the remaining parts, the magic and preciousness of the architecture; it has been, in the past, one of the major study centers in all of southern Italy, specialized above all in the transcription of sacred texts thanks to the amanuensis work of the monks.

Before reaching the small port of Otranto it is possible to make, always on a gravel road, a stop to admire the former bauxite quarry, which once abandoned in the 70s was transformed into a small lake

with green waters wedged between the walls of red earth; undoubtedly one of the most iconic places in Salento.

Always on a gravel road you can get close to the Torre del Serpe. In addition to being part of the defensive system that the Aragonese implemented to defend themselves from attacks by the Turks, this small tower, now restored, is the coat of arms of the municipality of Otranto (it is said that a snake lived in the tower, which sucked the oil from the lamp at night, causing the pirates to lose their bearings, thus saving the city).

You approach the port, and you can stop for a break and visit the old city center; the Aragonese castle with its towers, the cathedral with its mysterious crypt and the floor mosaic, an extraordinary testimony of medieval art, as well as the beautiful little beach in the center of the city.

Immediately after Otranto, you set off again towards the hinterland, along the small river Idro (Hydruntum, which gives its name to the city), and you are immediately immersed in a primordial landscape dotted with many hypogea. Here it was easy to dig, thanks to the tuff rock, to create shelters, small crypts like that of Sant’Angelo, or simple shelters for farmers and shepherds.

Riding on a quiet tree-lined municipal road you arrive in the center of Giurdignano, with its many menhirs stuck in the corners of the streets, almost marking crossroads like modern obelisks. Immediately on the outskirts there is the Megaliths Parks, with its Dolmen Stabile in the center.

Here, hidden in the countryside, there are many dolmens and menhirs, fascinating monoliths, evidence of the fact that this part of the territory has been inhabited since Neolithic times.

Another small recommended stop is at the Massi della Vecchia, to admire large stones, now smoothed by the erosion of water and wind, which lie dormant hidden among the olive trees.

Immediately after, the next stop is at the crypt dedicated to San Giovanni on the hill that dominates

this part of the territory, next to the Il Follaro restaurant.

Going down the hill, entering in Giuggianello, you pass in front of the Polisano menhir and then enter the center of the small town. Here you can visit the Museum of Rural Civilization and further on an example of an underground old oil mill, very common here in Salento, witness to a period in which the yellow gold, the fulcrum of the entire economy of the territory, was precisely olive oil.

A few more kilometers in the Salento countryside and we are once again in the center of Minervino.