Catacombs of Torre Pinta (Hypogeum del Torre Pinta) description and photos - Italy: Otranto (Topic)

Catacombs of Torre Pinta (Hypogeum del Torre Pinta) description and photos - Italy: Otranto. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Hypogeum del Torre Pinta.

Photo and description

On the territory of the Salentine peninsula - the "Italian heel" - countless dovecote towers have survived, built along the coast in ancient times. A few kilometers south of the city of Otranto, in the Valle delle Memorie, on a high hill stands the round Torre Pinta tower that dominates the surrounding area. This is one of the most characteristic examples of the dovecote erected by Christians in the form of a Latin cross. Three short "wings" of the cross are oriented strictly to the west, south and east, and the dark gallery, corresponding to the long "wing", faces north. In all the niches and on the low ceilings of the wide corridor, deep footprints left by pigeon claws are visible. And if you pay more attention to Torre Pinta, you can see some features in it, related to the ancient Messapian culture, for example, the oven, which was used for cremation, hundreds of recesses in which urns with the ashes of the dead were kept, or a stone step along the wall, on which, according to legend, the dead were left. Today it is believed that it was the Messapans who built Torre Pinta.

This tower was discovered in August 1976 by the Milanese architect Antonio Susini, who was firmly convinced that the numerous small cages found inside were intended for keeping pigeons. Moreover, the strategic location suggests that carrier pigeons, which "served" the Bourbon troops, who were garrisoned in Otranto, could have stopped here. The oldest part of Torre Pinta, the round tower itself, dates back to the Middle Ages.

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Topic: Catacombs of Torre Pinta (Hypogeum del Torre Pinta) description and photos - Italy: Otranto.