In ancient times called Hydruntum (from the little river Idro which flows into the port) it was a Greek town, perhaps founded by Taranto, and then a roman municipality; for its position it was a popular port above all in the republican roman age for the relationship between Italy and Greece. In the middle age it was one of the most important centre of the Byzantine dominion in Italy, and had a Greek bishop. It was occupied only for a short period by the Longobards (757-58) because of the Byzantine occupation was reduced to the end of the Salento; Otranto became the chief town and the military centre of it and gave its name to the region (Landog Otranto).
It was attacked more times by the Saracen. With Bari and Taranto it was also the heart of the last Byzantine opposition against the Norman (1054-68) and surrendered to Roberto il Guiscardo only in 1070. It has in the XI and XII century an intense life thanks to the Venetian, Dalmatian and Levantine merchants who frequented its port and thanks to the movement of the crusades. Then it declined while other near towns were dominant.
In 1480 it was attacked and surrounded by the Turkish navy of Maometto II, who took part in the fight between Venice and the Aragonese , under the leadership of Achmed Pascià. The town surrendered after 15 days also because it didn't received any support from Naples. The Turks killed in the Duomo the bishop Stefano Pendinelli, the clergy and the inhabitants who found refuge in it: on the near hill of Minerva the surviving prisoners were killed (the "800 martyrs " of Otranto).
Their bones are now kept in the Cathedral in 7 very big cupboards and same of them in the church of S. Catherine at Naples.
The most important monument is the Cathedral, solemn temple rich in silence, holy for the memory of the massacre in 1480. Founded about in 1080 (the crypt) it was built in the second half of the XII century and partially rebuilt after 1480. The modern restorations free it from the seventeenth-century baroque superstructures. The front has, on the rich baroque portal (1674) a wonderful rose with16 rays with fine gothic traceries dating back to the end of '400.
Another very important church is San Pietro: a Byzantine building of the X-XI century, it is interesting because has inside a lot of frescos. Otranto is known also for its very beautiful coast which attracts every year thousands of tourists for its always pleasant summer climate and for the crystal-clear waters which characterises the Apulian seas.
