The Porto Selvaggio Regional Natural Park
Ten kilometers away from the Municipality of Nardò and a little less than twenty from the Municipality of Gallipoli there is an obligatory stop for those visiting Salento: a natural oasis that includes the Cala di Porto Selvaggio, the Palude del Capitano and the Torre dall 'Alto, a natural area protected by regional law since 2006 and included in 2007 in the list of "100 places to save" of the Italian Environment Fund (FAI).
We said an obligatory appointment, for lovers of seaside resorts, sports and nature in general. You can get there by driving a few minutes from the Municipality of Nardò and after having parked in one of the stops used, you walk a few hundred meters and find yourself in front of a natural spectacle to rub your eyes, a long descent immersed in nature leads in fact to a small beach of gravel and pebbles with a crystalline sea, whose waters are particularly refreshing and invigorating, also due to a current of fresh and cold water that reaches directly into the bay. The beach is surrounded by a large pine forest, whose trees were planted in the 1950s to reclaim the largely marshy surrounding land.
Within this natural park, which is not limited to the beach area, but includes over four hundred hectares of land, of which over two hundred and sixty of pine forest, there are various itineraries and different possibilities to relax or play sports; there are in fact the surrounding cliffs, a little more inaccessible than the "pine forest area", but which still allow bathing, there are also the numerous paths inside the pine forest, usable for walks or picnics and which are also an unmissable appointment for lovers of trekking and mountain biking. Speaking of trekking, among the most remarkable views of the park, returning to Gallipoli, you can go up along the pine forest and admire the Tower of Santa Maria from the High, an ancient watchtower, located 50 meters above sea level, on a rocky spur overlooking the beach, from which you can enjoy a breathtaking view of the entire natural park. The tower was erected in the second half of the 16th century and was part of an elaborate system of defensive turrets spread over the entire Salento coast, communicating to the north with Torre Uluzzo and to the south with Torre Santa Caterina. This system of turrets represents a historical heritage of the Salento area, but in a certain sense it is also an emotional heritage for the local population, as each of these turrets marks the landscape of the Salento coast in a unique way, we will talk about it in more detail with another article on this blog.
Speaking of history, the Porto Selvaggio Natural Park, in addition to the landscape treasure and the possibilities for sports of various kinds, also offers unmissable opportunities for archeology enthusiasts: eight different archaeological sites in the cave have been identified within the park , a sign of presence first by Neanderthal groups and subsequently by Sapiens, and the territory of the Municipality of Nardò is the center of an extraordinary "district of prehistory", with a historical stratification ranging from Neanderthal and Sapiens frequentations to those left by Messapi and then later by the Romans, up to the baroque architecture of the historic center of the same municipality. The Museum of Prehistory of Nardò, located in the former convent of Sant’Antonio da Padova, preserves most of the finds from archaeological research conducted in the area.
This wonderful natural oasis is located on the side of the Salento coast that faces west and therefore those who are there at sunset will see the sun slowly sink into the sea, we therefore recommend that you end your day in Porto Selvaggio with an aperitif in one of the numerous bars or kiosks between the natural oasis and Gallipoli, you will end a simply perfect day at the beach.
