| The crypt of Our Lady of Gonfalone (Madonna del Gonfalone) is in the middle of the countryside, a kilometre from Sant’Eufemia, near Tricase. Like other crypts in Salento it has been entirely dug out of the tuff stone. It can be accessed through a stone built structure with a bell tower on top. The outside area is enclosed with a dry stone wall. The monument is thought to date back to the Byzantine period, probably around the 10th/11th century. It is thought to have originally been a small monastery, which then came under the sway of the nearby Abbey of Santa Maria de Amito. Between the 17th and the 18th century the Crypt underwent structural changes. In order to give it the appearance of a basilica a ceiling was built in the central area as well as the vault that can be seen today. Little remains of the original frescoes which decorated the walls of the structure. However, the fine quality of the pictorial cycle is demonstrated by a “Dormitio Virginis” which has been recently restored. On the main altar, there is a more recent fresco portraying the “Virgin with child” located inside a medallion. In August 2008, thanks to the Plan for Local Development “Rural Park of the Land of Two Seas” (Piano di Sviluppo Locale “Parco Rurale della Terra dei due Mari”) organised by the Capo S. Maria di Leuca GAL organisation and by local ecclesiastical authorities, the monument was returned to the church and the community, after careful restoration. Outside the Crypt from the afternoon of the 21st through to the evening of the 22nd August the Cattle Fair was held, a tradition which has been maintained to this day. |