Yesterday when I arrived in Otranto I was too tired to look around much, but this morning I enjoyed the seafront with its lovely terrace walk, stores and restaurants that must be a hive of activity in the summertime.
Otranto is known for its medieval church with a beautiful twelfth century mosaic floor. I loved the much later ceiling - gorgeous warm woodwork.
A strange four-bodied but one-headed beast on the floor.
And here is Alexander the Great getting lifted up to heaven. (This photo is from the internet as it is much better than mine.) The story behind this comes from early Greek written sources and is found in Medieval romances and iconography. Alexander wanted to see the view from the heavens, so he captured two griffins and didn’t let them eat for a few days so that they would be really hungry. He attached a seat between the two of them, and holding skewers of meat above their heads, got himself lifted far up in the heavens.
Otranto also has a large Angevin castle dating from the sixteenth century when the French Angevins ruled the region. I thought it was the inspiration for Horace Walpole’s “Castle of Otranto” but couldn’t see anything romantically Gothic in this squat, rather prosaic military fortification. Google to the rescue again - Walpole never visited here and picked the name for its sound from a map. Ho hum! Anyway, I’ve just finished rereading his novel, and as it is a cold, windy night with the rain pelting down, at least the weather seems in harmony with his story.
It rained on and off for my walk as well. I lost the (totally unmarked) path twice, necessitating one short and one very long detour. Rocks everywhere!
This was my lunch - a plate full of little snacks that usually get served with an aperitivo. Since I was still walking, a cappuccino took the place of a glass of wine. Tonight I have to make do with the emergency rations I have in my backpack, as it is far too miserable to venture out.
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