In the historical centre of Morciano di Leuca there are some very ancient case a corte and some typical XVI-century residences. One of the most interesting monuments to see is  the big Castle situated in St John Square: it was commissioned by Gualtiero VI of Brienne to defend the centre from the enemies' attacks in the XIV century. In the past the feudal vassals and their families used to live here. Then  it was restored but it has kept its square plant. At the beginning there were four imposing towers along its four sides but in 1507 one of them was demolished to build the Convent and  the Church of the Carmelites. Other two towers have been almost completely demolished and only one of the original towers has left.  The front is well decorated and there are a trap door, with  beautiful decorations, and five sculptures representing the coats of arms of the noble families that  lived in this castle. Inside there is an ample courtyard and on the first floor some wide rooms where the noble people used to live. The most important religious monument is the  Mother Church dedicated  to St. John Almoner. It is dated 1576 and it was projected by the architect Gianmaria Tarantino. It was erected when the whole Salento suffered the invasions of a lot of enemies, that is why it constitutes a rare example of  strengthened religious monuments. In fact during the invasions the poor people took refuge to the castle or  the church. The façade is well decorated  and the  portal too. The stately bell tower is dated 1775. In this church with nave and two aisles there are six altars, interesting canvasses and a beautiful statue of the saint. Another interesting monument is the beautiful column on which  there is the statue of St. John, and it is near the Church of the Carmine,  also known like Church of the Rosary. It was commissioned in 1486 by the Baron Ruggiero Sambiasi. In  1579 it was restored. Near this church there used to be the Convent of the Carmelites, that later was demolished. The façade is imposing : on the lower  part there is well decorated portal  while on the upper part there is a big window. It is aisless and inside there are  four altars and some beautiful paintings as that of the Madonna  with the Child. The protector of the country is St. John Almoner that is celebrated solemnly on the last Sunday of July.

The nickname of the inhabitants of Morciano of Leuca is "tadduti", a dialectal word coming from "taddu",  that is a 1,5 metre tall onion with an ending panicle. According to a popular anecdote, during a sudden attack of the Turks, the farmers took refuge to the country where they used to grow a lot of these special onions and to defend themselves they used the "taddi"  against  the pirates,  who ran away quickly because they had never seen such a type of arm.

Special Thank to Diving Service (Morciano di Leuca) for their kind collaboration.