The Casale di Apigliano, the vanished Byzantine village among the olive groves of Salento

Those who drive the provincial road that runs down from Martano towards Soleto and Zollino usually don't stop. And yet, just beyond the dry-stone walls and the tidy rows of olive trees, hides one of the most evocative places in the deep Salento: the Casale di Apigliano, a Byzantine and medieval village that no longer exists today, except as a trace among the grass and the stone.

The history

Apigliano was born as a Byzantine settlement around the 7th-8th century and lived on for hundreds of years, before being abandoned between the 14th and 16th centuries. The causes are not entirely clear, but the result is that of an entire village vanished into thin air, leaving the fields to keep its memory. Since 1997, the excavations led by Professor Paul Arthur of the University of Salento have brought to light stone houses, everyday objects and dozens of burials, giving voice once more to a forgotten community.

The church

The most visible sign is the small deconsecrated church of Santa Maria, known to locals as the church of San Lorenzo: a rural building behind which lie hidden older layers of history and traces of frescoes worn away by time. All around, the archaeological park can be crossed at a leisurely pace, among information panels, reconstructions and the sound of wind through the branches.

The silence

Here there are no queues, no crowded ticket offices, no lines of coaches. There is the silence of the Salento countryside, the very same the last inhabitants of the village must have known. It's an experience different from the packed beaches and the villages taken by storm in August: slow, almost intimate, made of stones and absences more than of monuments.

How to visit it

Visiting it means choosing a Salento that doesn't shout. You get there easily by car, leave the vehicle along the provincial road and walk. Spring and early autumn are the best seasons, when the light is soft and the heat isn't oppressive. A tip: check the opening times beforehand, often tied to local events and initiatives, and bring the respect that a place deserves which is, to all intents and purposes, a cemetery and the home of those who are no longer here.

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Getting there

The archaeological park lies in the countryside between Martano and Zollino, in the Grecìa Salentina, some twenty kilometres from Lecce. By car from Lecce, follow the SS16 towards Maglie and take the exit for Martano, then continue towards the site among the olive groves. The nearest station is Martano on the Ferrovie del Sud Est; the reference airport is Brindisi.