GUIDED TOURS MANDURIA – THE LAND OF THE PRIMITIVO WINE: THE MESSAPIAN WALLS AND THE PLINIAN SOURCE
TOUR DURATION: FULL DAY TOUR
GUIDED TOURS MANDURIA DESCRIPTION
Among the most important messapian dodecapolis, Manduria is halfway between the great and powerful Greek Taras and the messapian world. Following the conflicts with Taranto and its allies, the death of the King of Sparta Archidamo in 338 b.C. close to the colossal walls, in 3rd century b.C. , Manduria became a roman possession. We will go through all this periods and the following ones during the visit of the old city centre where we will find a variety of architectural styles from the Romanesque of the Main Church to the precious baroque of the sumptuous noble palazzi, to finally find the austere baroque of the imposing Imperial Palace. Still in the heart of the city centre, a particular attention will be dedicated to the jewish district and to a most recent but impressive masterpiece dating back to the 19th century: the Calvary. We will then move to a famous wine cellar where you will be welcomed by the staff in a splendid 19th century star vault belonging to the oldest wing of the structure, then we will go down to the ancient hypogean cellar where the Museum of the Primitivo Wine Civilization is located. We will be guided by a sommelier in an oenological tour linked to the most representative wines of the area: the Primitivo of Manduria DOP, the Negroamaro IGT served with tarallini, cheese, salami and almond pastries. In the afternoon we will move to the entrance of the archaeological park of the messapian walls, where we will detect not only the traces of the ancient and powerful fortifications of the city but we will have the chance to visit a mythical source, described by Pliny the Elder: the fascinating and mysterious plinian source visible in an underground environment and linked to various legends. Finally, still in the park, we will visit a small and precious example of a rupestrian civilization in the tarantine oriental area: the hypogean church of St. Pietro Mandurino.
