Messapi

Puglia, Italy

On the wake of the ancient sea routes of the Mycenean people, after the Aegean crossing, the first een land was that of Salento. The Greeks, maybe the first colonists of Metaponto, called it Messapia the land in the water”, and just by chance, over the years, Messapia became “the land between the two seas”: the Jonian sea and the Adriatic sea. The Messapi population settled in Salento in the IX century B.C. and they probably came from the Illiria region. Many beautiful cities were built by the Messapi population in Salento, usually on hilly areas, that were surrounded by one or more circles of fortified walls. The Messapi had marked artistic skills and produced many beautiful objects (vases, pottery in general, bronze and gold objects ect…) that today can be admired in the main local archeological museums in Salento.