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The GAL of Terra d’Arneo consists of an extensive area with a long coastline. It lies within the coastal municipalities of Nardò and Porto Cesareo, lapped by the crystal clear waters of the Ionian Sea, and extends inland to the municipalities of Leverano, Copertino, Carmiano, Veglie, Salice Salentino, Guagnano and Campi Salentina. The area also lies within the large Parco del Negroamaro, which serves to promote local food-and-wine and native grape varieties. Its landscapes, coastal and sub-coastal, rural and urban, have a timeless charm that reveals itself slowly and discreetly, without great clamour, in the infinite silence of the vast open spaces of Terra d’Arneo.
A route running from the inland areas to the sea draws the visitor into the welcoming atmosphere of the area’s daily life, suspended between past and present. Passing through Campi Salentina, Guagnano, Salice Salentino and Veglie we come to Carmiano, Leverano and Copertino; after Nardò, the itinerary leads to the coastal resorts of Santa Maria al Bagno and Santa Caterina, continuing along the coast to Porto Cesareo, the “pearl” of the Ionian. The continuous succession of olive groves and vineyards, alternating with arable fields, masserie (traditional farmhouses), dry-stone huts and walls, traditional summer homes and exuberant eclectic villas makes the perfect prelude to a refreshing dip in the clear waters of the Ionian.
Let yourself be enveloped by the embrace of Terra d’Arneo: a truly unique and unforgettable human and sensory experience!
Municipalities
The area includes 9 municipalities: Nardò, Porto Cesareo, Leverano, Veglie, Salice Salentino, Guagnano, Campi Salentina, Carmiano, and Copertino.
Promotion of the heritage
Heritage promotion involves activities whose objective is to bring together public and private sector operators, citizens and local communities in the construction of a specific identity of the Arneo area. An identity that is certainly not to be invented, but rediscovered and reinterpreted: connected with the history, the culture, and the old and new resources of this part of the Salento peninsula.
