San Cataldo
San Cataldo is a seaside resort on the Adriatic Sea located in the province of Lecce, about 10 kilometers from the Salento capital. Once San Cataldo was the port of the city of Lecce, Porto Adriano, from the name of the emperor who had it built, in fact the emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD built the first port of San Cataldo, and still today it is possible see the remains. It was destroyed and rebuilt several times until the Turks, with their devastation carried out on the whole coast, demolished it completely. In the past, San Cataldo also boasted the presence of a coastal tower, which was to rise near the current lighthouse. Unfortunately, however, it fell into disrepair in the early 19th century due to a mine by the English navy
For a long period and until the early 1900s, the entire coastal strip from San Cataldo to Otranto, including the hinterland, remained almost uninhabited due to the swampy nature of the land that brought malaria which was then eradicated thanks to the reclamation works .
San Cataldo is equipped with a lighthouse and a marina that can accommodate about 200 boats. It has always been referred to as “The sea of Lecce”, due to its extreme proximity to the city. San Cataldo is a pearl on the Adriatic-Salento coast, with enchanting beaches and a crystalline sea. The coast is low and mostly sandy, divided from the Salento hinterland by the pine forest and the Cesine nature reserve. San Cataldo today is a state biogenetic nature reserve where the presence of the Aleppo pine is important.
On Sunday mornings, even in winter, the fruit and vegetable market takes place. In the summer the pro-loco organizes the “bread festival”, a party during which you can taste some of the most famous Salento culinary specialties and above all the “puccia con le olives” and the “pizzi” (bread mixed with tomato and onion) During a trip to San Cataldo, a nice walk along the seafront is recommended with the possibility of practicing sports activities on the large beach available to tourists. This is how the town of San Cataldo has become the marina of Lecce and increasingly a tourist-seaside resort, with tourist offers in residences and apartments for rent by the sea.
San Cataldo is the ideal destination to spend a holiday by the sea, the sun and where you can taste the typical recipes that still retain the flavors of the past.
