Soleto

Soleto
Comune
Comune di Soleto

Plazza and town Church of Soleto
Soleto

Location of Soleto in Italy

Coordinates: 40°11′N 18°12′E / 40.183°N 18.200°E / 40.183; 18.200Coordinates: 40°11′N 18°12′E / 40.183°N 18.200°E / 40.183; 18.200
Country Italy
Region  Apulia
Province / Metropolitan city Lecce (LE)
Area
  Total 29 km2 (11 sq mi)
Elevation 91 m (299 ft)
Population (30 November 2014)[1]
  Total 5,523
  Density 190/km2 (490/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Soletani
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 73010
Dialing code 0836
Patron saint St. Anthony of Padua
Website Official website

Soleto (Sulìtu in local dialect) is a small Griko-speaking city located in the province of Lecce in Apulia, Italy. The town has a total population of 5,523 and is one of the nine towns of Grecìa Salentina.

History

In the 5th century, Soleto was elevated to the seat of a bishopric of the Byzantine Rite. In the Middle Ages it was ruled by Count Gjon Kastrioti II (the Roman numeral is related to the Kastrioti dynasty), son of the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg. In the 13th century the Angevine rulers of Naples chose the city as the capital of a county, later ruled by the Castro, Balzo, Orsini, Campofregoso, Castriota, Sanseverino, Carafa, and Gallarati-Scotti families, until feudal control was finally abolished in 1806. Soleto became part of the Neapolitan Republic of 1799 and was a center of the Carboneria during the Italian Risorgimento.

Soleto Map

The Soleto Map, the oldest geographical map in Western world, was discovered in Soleto by Belgian archaeologist Thierry van Compernolle of Montpellier University on 21 August 2003.

Notable people

See also

References

  1. Population from ISTAT


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 4/19/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.