Santa Maria di Leuca

Santa Maria di Leuca (Sicilian: Lèviche) is a village of the Apulia region in Italy. It belongs to the municipality of Castrignano del Capo and represents the southernmost inhabited centre of the region.

Understand
The village of Leuca is at the southernmost tip of Salento peninsula, between the two promontories of Punta Rìstola to the west and Punta Mèliso to the east, where stand the sanctuary and the 48-m-tall (159 ft) lighthouse.


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By car

 * From the airport of Brindisi: take the Strada Statale 16 Italia.svg to bypass the city, merge onto Strada Statale 613 Italia.svg towards Lecce, here take Tangenziale Ovest and Strada Statale 101 Italia.svg to Gallipoli and finally Strada Statale 274 Italia.svg that ends just 2 km north of the sanctuary. All of these roads are state highways with dual carrageways for most of the length.
 * From Otranto: drive along Strada Statale 16 Italia.svg freeway until Maglie, here take the Strada Statale 275 Italia.svg that crosses the inner villages. Another option is driving southward along the Adriatic coast through the beautiful marinas and with a truly magnificent view.

By foot
The locality is quite small and can be visited by foot quickly, walking along the beautiful promenade of Via Cristoforo Colombo. You can reach the Sanctuary of Finibus Terrae from the harbor by walking up a 284-step monumental staircase. Don't forget a pair of comfortable shoes and a bottle of water!

By car
Many streets are one-way and road signs can be difficult to understand (a trick of the municipality to earn money thanks to the fines), so if you choose to drive in the central area of the village watch out for eventual driving bans and road marking. The boardwalk is extremely busy at every hour of every day during summer and parking there is virtually impossible. Be prepared to park your car some blocks north and don't forget the parking meter!

Despite this a car can be useful to explore the coast in both directions or to reach the magnificent grottoes on the Ionian Sea, driving towards west.

Caves
Many caves are present along the coastline near Leuca, some of them can be reached only by the sea (through a boat or swimming) while others can be explored also on foot. Don't forget to wear a comfortable pair of shoes!
 * (cave of the Devil) is located at the tip of Punta Ristola and is accessible by descending a short dirt path. Here you will arrive in a suggestive space, with an exit to the sea and another one to the surface.

Do

 * Have a walk along the in the tourist port, between the white Mediterranean houses and the sea, overlooking the lighthouse and Punta Meliso.
 * Don't miss the opening of the monumental waterfall between the two flights of the staircase below the Sanctuary, when the water of the Apulian Aqueduct are left pouring out in a show of colorful lights. It is usually open by night, but there are no established dates for this event so it is better to ask the tourist office or shopkeepers.
 * Admire the fireworks on Ferragosto night (15th August), a show of about 20 minutes visible from kilometers that attracts a lot of people from the nearby municipalities. It usually takes place at about 23:00.

Buy
A weekly market is held every Sunday along the whole promenade and it lasts from morning until after 01:00. It is possible to find almost any type of products, from clothes to toys, household products and souvenirs, etc. A group of can be found in a small open space beside the promenade; while a  is present just under the lighthouse. In the latter you will find a lot of typical souvenirs like tambourines and objects in pietra leccese (Lecce stone).

Stay safe
Crime is practically absent in all the territory and the only advice is leaving your bag out while you are taking a bath at the sea, so that you can take a look at it. The only real problem for your safety is exactly the sea! Leuca has little stretches of sandy coast along the promenade but the rest of the coastline is rocky and can be difficult to move along it for people not accustomed. Consider the idea of buying a pair of sea shoes that are sold in many shops, also in most of newsstands.

If you want to rent a boat to explore the sea caves don't forget to take the phone number of the attendant and be careful when you steer the boat behind the promontory of Punta Meliso (the one with the lighthouse), since the waters become deep and the sea is usually a bit rough.


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Cope

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Go next
The baroque architectures of Lecce are only an hour drive, the Adriatic town of Otranto even less, while the Ionian old town of Gallipoli can be reached by car in half an hour. You can also discover the lively village of Torre Vado, just ten minutes away.