Presicce-Acquarica: The Underground Oil-Mills and the Secret World Beneath the Salento Stone

A borgo with a secret beneath its feet

At the southernmost tip of Salento, where the Puglian peninsula narrows to a sliver of land between two seas, lies a borgo that keeps its most precious treasure underground. Presicce-Acquarica — since 2019 a single municipality formed by the merger of two historic centres just three kilometres apart — is known as the "City of the Hypogea" for its extraordinary subterranean oil-mills, carved into the limestone bedrock from the fifteenth century onwards.

Here, beneath the elegant Baroque squares and the noble palaces, a parallel world opens up: a network of underground spaces where for centuries the olive oil was made that lit the courts of Europe. To visit Presicce-Acquarica is to discover a chapter of economic and social history that no textbook tells, in a borgo where tourism is still a rare and welcome guest.

What to see: the hypogean oil-mills

Why underground?

The hypogean oil-mills of Salento are a phenomenon unique in Europe. The decision to carve the mills into the rock was no accident: the constant underground temperature (around 18°C year-round) facilitated the processing of olives and prevented winter cold from solidifying the oil. Above-ground space was precious for cultivation, and the limestone of Salento lent itself perfectly to excavation.

Presicce has more than twenty of them, and several are open to visitors thanks to the restoration work of local associations. The most impressive is the Frantoio Ipogeo di Palazzo Ferraris, a subterranean complex extending for hundreds of square metres beneath the historic centre.

The experience of the visit

Descending into the oil-mill is a sensory experience that engages all the senses. The air is cool and damp, the rock walls still bear the dark stains of the oil that soaked them for centuries. You can make out the great stone vats where the olives were stored, the millstones driven by donkeys circling in the half-dark, the drainage channels where oil separated from water and was collected in terracotta jars.

Local guides recount the lives of the trappitari, the mill workers who lived underground for entire months during the pressing season from November to March. They slept in niches carved from the rock, ate bread and olives, and saw sunlight only on Sundays when they went to Mass. A gruelling life that produced the "liquid gold" of Salento — an oil exported across Europe, used not only in cooking but above all for lighting and soap-making.

The historic centre of Presicce

Palazzo Ducale and Piazza del Popolo

The historic centre of Presicce gathers around Piazza del Popolo, one of the most elegant squares in the lower Salento. The Palazzo Ducale of the Bartilotti family dominates the northern side with its sober, harmonious Renaissance façade. Inside, a porticoed courtyard and frescoed rooms testify to the wealth of the feudal families who governed the borgo.

The Colonna di Sant'Andrea, at the centre of the square, is a perfect example of Salentine Baroque: tall, slender, decorated with volutes and angels that seem to dance in the Lecce stone. The mother church, dedicated to Sant'Andrea Apostolo, preserves Baroque altars and canvases from the Neapolitan school.

Acquarica del Capo

Three kilometres away, the historic centre of Acquarica offers a different atmosphere: more intimate, more rural, with its medieval castle converted into a noble residence and a dovecote tower rising above the kitchen gardens. The Church of Santa Maria del Tempio, just outside the centre, is an ancient place of worship connected to the Knights Templar, surrounded by millenary olive trees whose gnarled trunks resemble natural sculptures.

Traditions and food

Extra-virgin olive oil is naturally the star of the local table. The varieties Cellina di Nardò and Ogliarola Salentina, cultivated here for centuries, produce an intensely fruity oil. Many farms offer tastings and tours of modern oil-mills — an interesting contrast with the medieval hypogea.

The cuisine of Presicce-Acquarica is the essential, knowing cooking of rural Salento:

- Friselle: twice-baked bread soaked and dressed with fresh tomatoes, oregano, and oil — the simplest and finest dish in Puglia.

- Puccia: round bread stuffed with local vegetables, cheeses, and cured meats.

- Massa di San Giuseppe: pasta with chickpeas, cabbage, and fried pasta, a ritual dish for the feast of San Giuseppe (19 March).

- Cupeta: hard almond nougat, a speciality of Salentine fairs.

Not to be missed are the tavole di San Giuseppe, a tradition still very much alive in March: families open their doors and lay lavish tables in honour of the saint, offered freely to all who arrive — a gesture of hospitality that moves you.

Getting there and when to visit

Presicce-Acquarica is 60 km from Lecce, reachable by car on the SS275 (Lecce–Santa Maria di Leuca). Ferrovie del Sud Est connects Lecce with the nearby town of Alessano. Brindisi airport is about 110 km away. A car is advisable for exploring the surrounding countryside and reaching the Ionian beaches (Pescoluse, the so-called "Maldives of Salento", is only 10 km away).

The best months are April to June and September to October, when the climate is perfect for strolling and the countryside is at its most splendid. A visit to the hypogean oil-mills is possible year-round, but it is particularly evocative during the olive harvest (November to December), when the scent of new oil fills the air of the borgo.

Allow a full day to appreciate Presicce-Acquarica: the morning for the hypogean oil-mills and the historic centre of Presicce, the afternoon for Acquarica and a walk among the millenary olive trees. In the evening, dinner at one of the borgo's trattorias — where the bill will surprise you with its modesty — is the perfect way to close the day.