ALESSANO is a town of approximate 5000 inhabitants situated in the Southern area of the Salento. Its history tells that the founder was the Byzantine Emperor Alessio I Comneno but there are no official documents that evidence these origins.

After recent excavations, traces of fortified walls and ruins of some building evidence the remains of a settlement of the Messapi (ancient Italic population).

For certain the Normans assigned to Alessano a primary role in the government of the territory of Capo di Leuca.

The city became an important commercial center and attracted Venetian and Hebrew merchants and their Families. Important buildings were edified in Renaissance style and can still be admired in the city centre today.

Alessano is rich of architectonic monuments such as the Church entitled to San Salvatore ('700), the Palazzi Legari and san Giovanni, the Convent of the Cappuccini monks.