Travels with Spaniels: Carvings, skeletons and the search for a blocked sewer

Back in 2000 Luciano Faggiano bought an old building in the city of Lecce, planning to transform it into a trattoria. He got a lot of the refurbishment done but noticed that the toilet was backing up. He suspected a broken sewer pipe and decided to dig a trench in the floor in order to repair it. Under the floor he found old corridors and rooms so he kept digging. As he got deeper he uncovered layers of history including an old tomb, a Roman granary, a Franciscan chapel and etchings made by the Knights Templar. Eventually someone noticed him taking rubble away in the back of his car and reported him to the authorities. He was allowed to continue digging under the supervision of an archaeologist. This did put paid to his habit of tying a rope around his 12 year old son and lowering him into the smaller holes. The building is now a

He did eventually find the broken pipe

museum containing the artefacts he found in his search for the suspect pipe.

The tale sums up Lecce where we we spent our second night in Italy. This city of 95,000 people, like many in Italy, is built on the layers of those who have gone before and it is almost impossible to carry out any development without finding more relics from the past. The plan to build a car park had to be abandoned when a Roman temple was discovered under the site while a statue of the city's patron saint had to be relocated when it was realised a Roman amphitheatre was underneath. With all this history under our feet we wandered the narrow streets marvelling at buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries. Stone carving seems to have been something of an obsession from this baroque period with churches and public buildings adorned with both human and animal figures everywhere we looked.

Still space for a few more creatures

This was here all the time

We had spent our first Italian night in Brindisi where the local council had provided a motorhome parking area. We were grateful to park up and relax after the disturbed night on the ferry. After lunch we ventured out for a stroll along the impressive harbour front with its Venetian buildings before venturing into the narrow streets of the old town. The following morning we repeated the walk before heading south to Lecce. In Greece Lidl had been our go-to for food shopping so we were delighted to find they were in Italy as well. We were also pleased to find that, amongst all the Italian products, they still stocked Greek yogurt. We drove a short distance to a Speed Queen laundrette, the first we had seen since Poland. Having got the washing done we fetched up in a large car park close to the bus station which gave us a great opportunity for people watching as the long distance coaches came and went.

Nice bit of paving in Lecce

In Greece we had bought the spaniels' food in Lidl as they stocked one that is wheat free. Unfortunately the Lidl in Lecce did not have it so the following morning we drove south to a large shopping centre which boasted a huge pet store. While in the car park we bumped into a couple from Lancashire who were in the process of moving to live in Italy. It was then a short drive to the coastal town of Otranto where we pulled into a quiet grassed area on the edge of the town.

Otranto boasts a large castle built in medieval times which played a central part in the struggles for supremacy in his part of Italy by Franks, Ottomans and, later Napoleon's French forces. The author Horace Walpole used the name in his 1764 tale, The Castle of Otranto, which is generally regarded as the first ever gothic novel. Ironically Walpole had just picked the name from a map and didn't even know that the town had a castle until some 20 years after his novel was published.

The castle that launched a literary genre

We took the pups for a very breezy coastal walk and the open rocky countryside enabled us to let them off the lead for a good run. On the way they were able to swim in the so called Bauxite Lake, emerald green water surrounded by steep sides of red rock, the remains of an old quarry. Having left them to sleep in Florence we walked to the castle but unfortunately it was closed. However we were able to admire the extensive fortifications that dominate the harbour before looking for lunch. The small cafe we found was adequate rather than inspiring so after eating, we set off to find somewhere to pass the time before the cathedral opened at three. We discovered a lovely little wine bar where the friendly proprietor showed us down to the cellar with a couple of glasses of the local reds. This part of Italy produces some fantastic wines which are great value. He also sorted us out with a selection of baby cakes and pastries which are something of a local speciality.

Bit of a breezy walk along the Adriatic

Surrounded by wine

Our final port of call for the afternoon was the 11th century cathedral which we found far less ornate than many of the Catholic places of worship we have visited in the past. The whole floor is made up of a mosaic which is quite stunning. However, for me the big attraction was the glass fronted panels behind the altar which contain the bones of some of the 800 townsfolk who were killed by the invading Turks in 1480, reportedly because they refused to convert to Islam. They were all canonised by Pope Francis in 2013 which probably made them feel better. The skulls of the new saints now look blankly out at the cameras of visiting tourists. While not as impressive as the Chapel of Bones in Evora, Portugal, they made quite a show.

All Saints

You looking at me?

This must have taken a while to lay

We have been so taken with this little town and the quiet parking place we have found, that we decided to stay here for a second night. The weather has been a little indifferent since our arrival here and rain is forecast for the weekend. Tomorrow it is back on the road as we head to Gallipoli...that's the Italian rather than the Turkish one.