Salento

Salento (Salentino: Salentu, Salentino Griko: Σαλέντο), also known as Terra d'Otranto, is a cultural, historical and geographic region at the southern end of the administrative region of Apulia, in southern Italy. It is a sub-peninsula of the Italian Peninsula, sometimes described as the "heel" of the Italian "boot". It encompasses the entire administrative area of the province of Lecce, a large part of the province of Brindisi and part of that of Taranto.

The peninsula is also known as Terra d'Otranto, and in the past Sallentina. In ancient times it was called variously Calabria or Messapia.

Quotes

 * The undulating landscape of the Salento isthmus abounds with ancient strongholds boasting monumental stone fortifications.
 * Gert-Jan Bergers, "Landscape and identity of Greek colonists and indigenous communities in southeast Italy", in Landscape, Ethnicity and Identity in the Archaic Mediterranean Area (2012), p. 72