A Stroll Through Gallipoli: Free Tour

I’m not a professional tour guide, but I love Gallipoli and enjoy showing visitors from all over the world the most hidden and fascinating corners of its historic center. We’ll meet at the Greek Fountain, the city’s oldest monument, just a stone’s throw from the 17th-century bridge—the only access to the islet on which the historic center stands, suspended between sky and sea. Before crossing it, we’ll stop to admire the Angevin Castle, which stands majestically to the left of the bridge with its ramparts overlooking the water. Once across the bridge, we’ll turn right toward Purità Beach, one of the most beautiful in Puglia, and from there we’ll walk along the ramparts—the 16th-century city walls upon which the entire historic center rests—to witness one of the most breathtaking sights in the Mediterranean: the sun plunging into the open sea, beyond the island of Sant’Andrea with its solitary lighthouse. We’ll continue along the walls to the Church of St. Francis of Assisi—which the people of Gallipoli still call the “Church of the Malladrone”—and then lose ourselves in the characteristic narrow streets of the historic center, all the way to the Cathedral of St. Agatha.