The day of the WWF oases at Le Cesine. Trip to the Salento area, Puglia

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Taking advantage of the day of the oases and the beautiful sunny day almost summer we went to Salento taking the highway 16 a smooth and two lanes but generally always pretty congested during the summer. We follow the signs is not very accurate to the WWF oasis resort The Gesine Vernole.
This is one of many protected areas are managed and protected by the WWF in Italy, with the aim to preserve and protect rare and threatened habitats and species. The Oasis is reached from the coast 611 San Cataldo - Otranto but also from other countries like Vanze and Achaia, fractions of Vernole.L 'Oasis covers about 620 hectares, 350 of which are managed by WWF, is today one of the last areas marsh that once stretched from Otranto to Brindisi. E 'formed by different environments: the reeds, marsh, dunes, woods and fields, all important if the oasis could be of great interest to the birds that visit it. The two basins of the marsh behind the dunes are called "Pantano great" and "Salapia", both with brackish water. Salapia The name derives from the discovery in the area of an ancient city called "Salapia. Other small basins dunes are "Salapieddhi. The boundary of the wetland is bordered by the channel leader who goes by Torre Specchia to San Cataldo as regards the west side, from the sea as regards the portion of the Levant. In San Cataldo is the pumping station, a plant whose function is to expel the excess water. Within the forest, namely a few meters from the swamp there are 3 cabins (2 height, 1 sea level) specially erected for the observation of birds. The path led us a little bit disappointed because it was too short but it is an invitation to a further visit.
On the road to Antrim: The ancient village of Segin, medieval, became part of the County of Lecce in the twelfth century, then was donated by the Anjou at the Convent of St. John the Evangelist of Lecce and, finally, in 1294 it was granted in fief by Charles II of Anjou at Acaya Gervasio. The Acaya held the estate for three centuries.
He assumed the current name of Antrim in 1535, when the great Jean Jacques dell'Acaya magister, "Royal military engineer" of Charles V, built the city wall and moat that still surrounds the town, he added bastions, ramparts and moat the castle was built by his father 29 years ago.
Is currently the only example of a fortified city of southern Italy, escaped unscathed by time and having a typically Renaissance. The castle of Antrim and the city all is the extraordinary achievement of an important architectural genius, a "magister" royal military engineer Charles V: Gian Giacomo dell'Acaya.

The castle is the tangible evidence of a feudal power, around which developed the history of these populations, which is a story of great and dignified poverty.
In fact, apart from the castle, the village is very small and characterized by a series of low houses .. no shortage of places to dine, however, we counted about three restaurants-taverns in a few kilometers.
After the visit to Antrim (the castle eVisit after booking) we move to Gallipoli, but let's first look at some little villages of Salento Greece, from Mars to Calimera.
Gallipoli, washed by the Ionian Sea, lies on the west coast of the Salento peninsula in the Gulf of Taranto. Feature is the division of the town into two clearly defined areas: the "old town" and the "new village". The attractive old town, full of ancient buildings and frescoes, stands on an island connected to the mainland by a calcareous stone bridge. Around 1500 were built the mighty city walls, to face the enemy attacks, resized in height, the end of 800, including the present scenic road that encircles the entire island, you can enjoy fantastic scenery (the rest of ancient walls one fragment still in good condition). Looking north you see a part of the coast Neretina, while the south is clearly visible from the promontory of the bay formed Pizzo. Near the coast to the west, we encounter the Rock of Pigeons, the small island of the field and in particularly clear days you can see the outlines of the mountains of Sila, while south-west appears to clear the island of St. Andrew, headquarters of a great lighthouse, built in 1866.
We had witnessed in the late afternoon by walking through the alleys of the city that has unfortunately been little immortalized because exhaustion of the memory card .. patience opportunity to go down there will .....