Presicce, Apulia, Address available on request

Palazzo Martano is a charming historic residence of the late 800 located in the heart of the historic center of Presicce, a town in the lower Salento, characterized by star vaults, earthenware floors and an underground oil mill in the basement.

The property consists of 17 rooms in total and 2 bathrooms for an area of 412 square meters covered, has an entrance at the corner on Corso Italia and Piazza Villani in front of the church, with an uncovered area of exclusive relevance and a small covered veranda that leads to the ground floor, a second entrance from a secondary street that accesses directly on the open floor pertaining to the ground floor and a third entrance from Corso Italia leading to the first floor; 

The first floor consists of 3 rooms, bathroom and kitchen overlooking the terrace on the floor.

The ground floor consists of 13 rooms of which 3 are storage rooms, has an open space of about 60 square meters and 18 square meters of covered veranda from the entrance on the corner of Corso Italia and Piazza Villani, and a second uncovered of about 100 square meters which can be accessed internally from the property and also directly from the outside from Vico G. Cesi. 

In several rooms there are the characteristic star vaults and cocciopesto floors that further confirm the historicity and dating of the building itself.

The property includes a typical underground oil mill recently discovered, located in the basement which is accessed from the inner courtyard via a stone staircase. 

The property needs renovation.

For Info & Visit 
Eden Real Estate 
Real Estate Agency Lecce Salento

The Municipality of Presicce today became Presicce-Acquarica

The territory of the municipality of Presicce, covers an area of 24.09 km², is located in the territory of the Salento greenhouses, in Capo di Leuca.

The territory has an orographic profile characterized by the modest reliefs of the greenhouses: it is between 65 and 169 m s.l.m. With the municipal house at 104 m above sea level The town, located in a valley particularly rich in water, is dominated by the Serra di Pozzomauro, a hill organized in terraces and dry stone walls along the slopes and covered with Mediterranean scrub, expanses of centuries-old olive groves, pines and shrub species of thorny oaks.
Underground oil mills

The warm climate and fertile soil have allowed the presiccesi to develop the agricultural sector, particularly intensifying the production of wine and especially olive oil, the main economic source of the country in the past.

Around the eleventh-thirteenth century spread the use of digging underground cave oil mills, called trappeti. Their presence suggests that Presicce had a flourishing economy and allows us to reconstruct the stages of its development: the first were built on the slopes of the Serra di Pozzomauro; later, after the draining of the swamp "Arnea", the activities began to move downstream. Most of the trappeti are concentrated along the road axis that connected the first two urban centers from which the entire country winds.

In the past, in Piazza Villani, there were auctioneers who set the price on the market. Among the merchants was the Venetian Pietro David, known for his trade relations throughout the world. The type of trappeti of Presicce is simple: they are dug into the tufa rock, the floor is beaten earth, there were presses "alla genovese" or mills "alla French". The modest size of the rooms, unsuitable to contain new mills and presses, did not allow to make technological changes.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century the trappeti were abandoned, some transformed into landfills or cellars and others, located in the countryside, in sheepfolds or stables. Since the 90s, subsequent reclamation and restructuring interventions have allowed the recovery of these environments as a tourist destination.