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| Inhabitants's name: Castrignanesi |
The civic
coat of arms of Castrignano has a church between two towers on a blue
background. We do
 not
know exactly when and how the village was created but people discovered some
findings of the Palaeolithic Age in the sea caves of Leuca (Diavolo Cave, Tre
Porte Cave and the Elefante Cave). Some scholars think that the village was
founded by the Roman centurion Castrinio who was given this land for his courage
on the battleground. On the other hand, Mr Arditi thinks that the village was
only a lookout of the near town of Vereto, in this case the name of the village
would derive from the Latin word ‘castrinium’ which means fortress. The Normans
came in the 12th century and in the 13th century the
village was included in the County of Alessano and was then ruled by the
d’Alnetos, the Canianos, the Pignatellis, the Bilittas, the Ayerbos, the Della
Rattas, the Della Barlieras, the De Frisis and the Guarinis. In 1624 the village
was sacked by the Algerians and in 1739 an earthquake
brought sufferance and destruction. Among the people from Castrignano del Capo
we remember: Tarquinio Fuortes (literary man and writer), Nicola Donnicola
(physician), Diomede De Ruggero (literary man), Antonio Panzera (deputy),
Domenico Trani (poet), Tommaso Chiffi (theologian), Vito Maruccia (lawyer), Luca
Patese (surgeon) e Carlo Trani (physician).
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