Avetrana Historical background Avetrana is a town which

Avetrana
Historical background
Avetrana is a town which lies 10 kilometers far fromManduria (south-east).
The municipality covers 73 kilometers and itis situated at thefurthest south-eastern border of the
province of Taranto lying on the foothills of the MurgeTarantine.
The origin of the town is uncertain, but recent studies state that the name Avetrana comes from
Terra Veturiana, which means “land belonged to a man called Veturius”; probably it was part of an
ancient Romancenturiation.
The so-called St. Martin Canalis an exclusive scenario within the district because of its Mediterranean
landscape. In the St. Martin Canal there are two caves which have a relevant archaeological
prospective, they are “Cava dell’Erba” and “Cava di San Martino”. In the last one, the first human
presencehas been dated around the VI - V millennium B. C.
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During the Middle-age, some villages such as St. Mary, St. George and Motunatowere settled, those
villages are no longer there. Starting from this time, several lords succeeded taking the possession
of the Casale, a farmstead.
Only with the accession of thePagano family, Avetranabecame a land, a hamlet fortified by walls.
The last lords of the town belonged to the family named Imperiale, a family originated from the
Italian city of Genoa, which settled in the area of Avetranaaround the ‘500. The feudal history of the
Avetranaends in the year 1782 with the last lord of Imperiale’s family.
Today Avetranais known for its monumental olive groves and because of the production of oil.
Historic center: the itinerary
Starting from the square called PIAZZA VITTORIO VENETO, it can be admired the impressive
balconyof TORRICELLI PALACE (1) and the CLOCK TOWER (2) built at the end of 1800, it
wasused originally for sailing salt.
Turning right, we reach the great facade of the church CHIESA MATRICE(3) which is dedicated to
St. John the Baptist. The church was built on the highest part of the city center and it was ultimately
completed in the year 1576; Particularly noteworthy are the wooden pulpit and the pipe organ and
choir.
EnteringCampanilestreet and turning into Veteranistreet, the fortress (4) appears. It consists of two
towers, the squared one which iscalled TORRIONE, and the other one which is a round base tower
probably built in the 1500s. The restoration work has brought back to life the hypogeum sites
that have been identified as oil mills. The site hostsnowadays an exhibition of historical finds
resultedfrom the archaeological area downstream fromMasseriadella Marina. In the TORRIONE is
settled the CARLONE’s library (5).
Taking David Parlatano street we get to PALAZZO IMPERIALI (6), the original palace was restored
in 1693 under Michele III Imperiale.
Via Ludovico Omodei n° 28 - Manduria (TA)
info@galterredelprimitivo.it
tel. 099.9737871 - fax 099.9734181 - P.IVA 02467590739
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