Poggiardo

Poggiardo
Country	Italy
region	Apulia
province	Lecce  (LE)
Coordinates	40 ° 3 '  N , 18 ° 22'  E Coordinates: 40 ° 3 '0 "  N , 18 ° 22' 0"  E
height	87  m slm
surface	19.8 km²
Residents	5,936 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density	300 inhabitants / km²
Post Code	73037
prefix	0836
ISTAT number	075061
Popular name	Poggiardesi
Website	Lecce

Poggiardo is a southeastern Italian city ​​( città ).

geography

The city has 5936 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019). It is located in the province of Lecce in Apulia , about 35 kilometers south-southeast of the provincial capital Lecce in Salento. It is about 8 kilometers to the south-east to the Adriatic Sea .

history

The Messapians settled in the district of Vaste (historically: Bastae or Bausta ), which dates back to the 7th century BC. Goes back. Finds were made in the municipality, which are exhibited in the Palazzo Baronale or can be seen as reconstructions at the sites where they were found.

On the outskirts is the archaeological park "Parco dei Guerrieri", in which part of the city wall with north-east and north gates was found. A rampart was built on the crown of which the silhouettes of Messapian warriors stand. A replica wooden siege tower stands on the wall.

Santi Stefano rock church

Further northeast in the direction of the rocky church of S. Stefano there is an archaeological site in the fondo Giuliano with a quarry, some rock graves and the foundation walls of a church that has been rebuilt several times in a grotto. Around the church, which was in use from the 5th to 10th centuries, there were small hamlets where people lived and their graves were found.

The Iron Age settlement is evidenced by shards of impasto ceramics, a hand-made, rather thick-walled pottery. From the 9th to 8th Century BC The foundations of the steelworks in the area of ​​Piazza Dante date from the 4th century BC. Such a hut with a pointed roof was built near the rocky church of S. Stefano. From the 6th century BC Greek influences are palpable in architecture. A beautiful Doric limestone capital with rosettes on the cover plate ( abacus ), which was recovered from the rocky church of S. Stefano, and a frieze fragment with lotus palmettes and tooth cut from the fondo Giuliani testify to this . From the 5th century BC There are red-figure Greek ceramics in the graves. A wall made of rocks and earth protected the settlement.

In the 4th century BC The older street layout is changed. The wall was followed by a stone wall accompanied by an earthfill (Agger), which is around 3.35 km long and encompasses around 78 hectares of residential and cultivation area. It is renewed in the 3rd century. In it was one of the oldest Messapic inscriptions from around 500 BC. Built in BC.

Under the Piazza Dante, at 107 m above sea level. d. M. the highest point and the ancient center, became a cult site of the 4th – 3rd centuries. Century BC BC with several rooms, some pits with votives, the terracotta mask of a female deity and clay vessels and simple consecration stones. A contemporary, partly also older, small cult complex is located in the fondo Melliche.

Next to a road, the area around a base, which carried an altar or a votive stone , was fenced in, and a cistern , small fire pits and a small altar are next to it. To the west of it was a votive depot with shards of vessels, miniature vessels, three animal skulls, three silver coins and four loom weights.

In the fondo Lucernara, a workshop from the 4th century BC was built outside the city wall. Exposed. In a second phase, two porches were placed in front of four neighboring rooms over a length of 130 m. Such Hellenistic suburban houses and workshops were also observed outside the walls of Brindisi .

A section of a road paved with tuff and a 4th – 3rd century homestead. Century BC Were examined in the fondo S. Antonio. Here, around a large courtyard, there were living, working and storage rooms. The graves of the 4th – 3rd centuries Century BC BC are mainly in the north of the city and on the road to Otranto in front of the northeast gate.

In 1869 a chamber tomb from the 3rd century BC was erected north of Piazza Dante . Discovered. The doors of the two parallel main chambers were each flanked by two caryatids, female supporting figures. Above the caryatids ran a frieze, the winged charioteer, probably erotic, pointing to chariots that are each pulled by three lions. A pair of caryatids and a relief plate can be seen today in the Museo Provinciale di Lecce, the other in the Museo Nazionale in Taranto. The grave was subsequently not cared for and its stones were stripped, so that today it presents itself as a hole in the ground. With the influence of the Romans, the settlement area shrank; Some bone game pieces with Latin inscription come from this time.

The museum exhibits the grave goods from the graves in the fondo Melliche: local and Greek clay and bronze vessels, lamps and bronze brooches. The front of the chamber tomb with the caryatids was reconstructed in wood. The tombs Tomba dell'Atieta and Tomba del Cavaliere, which were modeled on the discovery, are exhibited in room D. In addition to two strigiles for personal hygiene after exercise, the former also contains a small lekythos (oil dispenser), a bowl and a large red-figure bell crater as well as a bronze sieve as an accessory for making wine. In 1156 the place was destroyed by William I of Sicily .

traffic

The Poggiardo train station is on the Zollino – Gagliano Leuca railway line .

The former Strada Statale 497 di Maglie e di Santa Cesarea Terme (now provincial road 363) also runs through the municipality .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.

Web links

Commons : Poggiardo  - collection of images, videos and audio files