Santa Maria al Bagno
Encyclopedia
Santa Maria al Bagno is a town in Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...

 in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It is a frazione
Frazione
A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...

of the commune of Nardò
Nardò
Nardò is a town and comune of 31,185 inhabitants and comune in the southern Italian region of Apulia, in the province of Lecce.-History:...

 and is located on the Ionian Sea
Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea , is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...

.

Overview

Santa Maria is a small fishermen village, and it is located on the coastline of the Gulf of Taranto
Taranto
Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base....

, Ionian west coast between Gallipoli
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...

 and Porto Cesareo
Porto Cesareo
Porto Cesareo is a town and comune in the Italian province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-east Italy....

. It has unspoilt rocky and sandy beaches all along the coast. Particularly important is the next door regional wildlife reserve "Portoselvaggio", famous natural park with 400 hectares of pinewood forest and 7 kilometres of high and unpolluted coasts. Portoselvaggio is one of the main green lungs in the Puglia region.

Santa Maria Al Bagno is approximately 45 mins travelling time by car from Brindisi
Brindisi
Brindisi is a city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea.Historically, the city has played an important role in commerce and culture, due to its position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city...

, 20 mins from Lecce
Lecce
Lecce is a historic city of 95,200 inhabitants in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Lecce, the second province in the region by population, as well as one of the most important cities of Puglia...

 and approximately 1hr 30 mins from Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...

. There are several food shops in the village, restaurants, pubs, bars open in summer 24h a day, a chemist, a post office, real estate agents, tourist agents, barber shops, petrol station, newsagent shops and a weekly market every Sunday. Lots of large supermakets, shopping centres and fashion boutiques are in the town nearby such as Nardò, Galatina
Galatina
Galatina , known before the unification of Italy as San Pietro in Galatina, is a town and comune in the Italian province of Lecce in Apulia.Among the most important cities in Salento, it is situated some 21 km south of the city of Lecce....

, Gallipoli and Lecce.

Museum

Santa Maria al Bagno was the site of a post World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 displaced person camp.

A new museum opened in the village dedicated to thousands of concentration camp survivors who travelled through Italy on their way to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

after World War II. The Museum of Memory and Welcome has been created in Santa Maria through which some 150,000 Jews passed between 1943 and 1947. The museum houses all the material relating to the time from the town council archives, including witness reports, photographs and videos, as well as a multimedia room and a library.

External links

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