Patron saint festival In 304 days
The martyrs of Otranto
📅 Every year, on 14 August
On 14 August Otranto remembers its patrons: some eight hundred prisoners beheaded in 1480 for refusing to renounce their faith, after the Turks stormed the town.
This is Italy's easternmost point: at dawn from Punta Palascìa, on clear days, you can see the mountains of Albania. Otranto carries the marks of that frontier — the skulls of the eight hundred martyrs of 1480 kept in its cathedral — and a stranger treasure: the mosaic floor of 1163-65, a tree of life covering the whole nave and mixing king Arthur, Alexander the Great and Noah's ark.
The town within its Aragonese walls lives on long evenings; to the south, the rust-red bauxite quarry and the Sant'Andrea sea stacks earn the detour.
The Otranto guide
What to see 2
Otranto Cathedral · Castello aragonese
What to eat here 1
Burrata di Andria
Where to stay 24
24 places to stay · top rated: Palazzo Ducale Venturi - Luxury Hotel & Wellness 9.7 · Hotel Bellavista - Boutique Hotel 9.4
Events & festivals 1
Next up: The martyrs of Otranto, Saturday 14 August
Getting there
Nearest airport: Brindisi, 73 km away
Otranto is part of 🏘️ Villages 🏖️ Seaside
Tours, tickets and experiences
Bookable on GetYourGuideExperiences in Otranto
🎉 Festivals and feasts in Otranto 1
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Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
Near Otranto
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Places to see within 25 km
Outside Otranto, but an easy day trip away.
Castello Sanfelice 📍 Bagnoli del Trigno · 4.1 km At 783 metres above Bagnoli, the fortress that guarded the Castel di Sangro-Lucera drove road. chiesa di San Silvestro 📍 Bagnoli del Trigno · 4.5 km A church with no façade, wedged between two rocks, and a crucifix with jointed arms. Castello d'Evoli 📍 Castropignano · 9.4 km Legend gives it 365 rooms: the d'Evoli stronghold above the Biferno valley Santuario italico di Pietrabbondante 📍 Pietrabbondante · 11 km The theatre and temples where the Pentri Samnites gathered their senate, above the Trigno. castello D'Alessandro 📍 Pescolanciano · 11 km A drawbridge finished in 1691, relics in the ducal chapel, German officers in 1943. torre di Oratino 📍 Oratino · 12 km A doorway high above the ground and a ladder to haul up: the Norman tower of Oratino.