One of the most beautiful villages in Italy and the legend of the sheep kneeling before an image of the Madonna... #tuttitaly
Puglia never ceases to amaze us, and today I present this fantastic village, a small paradise halfway between the nearby sea and the splendid Apulian hills. The village in question is Specchia, a small town of 5000 people in the province of Lecce.
The historic center of Specchia is considered among the most beautiful in Salento, so much so that it is included in the guide 'The Most Beautiful Villages of Italy.'
The main feature of this village is the narrow streets closed to traffic and interrupted by flights of stairs typical of the medieval Apulian villages, which suddenly climb inside the ancient city.
Specchia takes its name from that heap of stones arranged in a conical shape, called precisely 'specchia,' used as a defense or lookout post.
The specific product is undoubtedly extra virgin olive oil, as in all of Puglia.
All the oil bottles packaged in Specchia have been brought together under a single label: "De. C.O Specchia" (Municipal Designation of Origin). You must try pasta with chickpeas, here cooked in a particular way: half of the tagliatelle is boiled in water, and the other half is fried in extra virgin olive oil.
"The Specchiese legend tells of a shepherd who grazed his flock. At the end of his working day, he realized that a sheep was missing: the best, the biggest, and he procured more milk. He looked for it in vain in the surrounding countryside up too late at night, seeing gradually fading hopes of finding her alive. All night he thought of the lost sheep. He got up early and started looking for her again but in vain.
Exhausted, he heard a bleat in the distance on the way back. Finding himself near a cave, Timoroso entered and saw his sheep kneeling in front of an image of the Madonna. He returned to the village to announce the prodigious event, and in a short time, he had a church built and dedicated it to the Madonna del Passo. Today the Madonna del Passo is very revered in Specchia, so much so that the people of Specchia have dedicated one of the town's main streets to her."
Puglia boasts an exceptional coast, but inside, it hides a real treasure to be discovered.
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