The civic coat of arms of Arnesano has a blue background with three hills. On the hill in the middle there is a big flame. During an archaeological excavation people found bronze and stone items, old coins and pots inside a Neolithic grave. All those finds are now in the Sigismondo Castromediano Museum in Lecce. We are not certain about the origins of this village: there are three hypothesis. It could have been a Greek colony where people used to breed sheep, therefore the name of the village would derive from the Greek word “arnes” which means ‘lamb’. The village could have been founded by the Roman centurion ‘Arnisius’ who won this land for the courage he had showed fighting. He built a house for himself and his soldiers then the village grew bigger and bigger. The third and last hypothesis is that the name comes from the Latin words “aer sanus” (good climate) because in the past those who suffered from breathing organs went to Arnesano to breath good air. When the Normans came, the King Tancredi included the village in the County of Lecce. The village was ruled by the Caracciolos, the Guidanos, the Corsos, the Marescallos and the Pratos. The last family to rule the village were the Bernardinis. Among the famous people from Arnesano we remember: Emanuele Passaby lived in 18^th century, thank to Francesco Prato he studied in Naples and became an appreciated painter also in Spain. Raffaele Manca lived between the 17^th and 18^th century and became a Jesuit Father. He always tried to help the poor people and those who suffered and was beloved by the population but he refused to improve his own life of poverty.