The "Martyrs of Otranto" are 813 Italians who were slain in the southern Italian city in 1480 for defying demands by Turkish invaders to renounce Christianity.
Puglia's other most inspirational stretch lies between Otranto and Santa Maria de Leuca, interspersing dramatic rocks washed by translucent waters and soft-sand beaches backed by shady forests, where the cri-cri of the cicale (crickets) almost deafens in summer.