CULTOUR'S RECOMMENDATIONS:

Don't miss an opportunity to sample one of the region’s best loved local sweets: the pasticiotto.

The Ascalone family in Galatina has baked these local specialties since 1742 and some even suggest that the sweet pastry actually originates here.

The pasticiotto is a sort of custard pie made from a delicate biscuit style pastry. It is best when still warm so look to arriving at the bakery around 11 am.

Galatina

Galatina is one of the most charming and gracious of the historial towns of the Salentine Peninsular. Highlights include the 14th century Basilica of Saint Catherine of Alexandria with its magnificently decorated interior, antique palazzi and one of the area's most famous bakeries which has been producing local specialties for over 250 years.

Basilica of Saint Catherine	Basilica of Saint Catherine	Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul	Ascalone Bakery
Detail of an historical building	Laneway in the historical centre	Historic residences	Building in the historical centre

Times of the year recommended for a visit to Galatina:

The Feast Days of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (28-30 June)... experience all the mysticism and emotion of the pizzica in its most authentic manifestation.
Evening concerts in the month leading up to the Notte della Taranta at Melpignano. The main piazza in Galatina is always a staging point for pizzica concerts enticing the best of local musicians and dancers to perform on balmy summer evenings.
The Fair of Saint Catherine (weekend nearest to 25 November) … the fair was first organised in 1490 and, lasting about a week, continued each year until the 1950s constituting one of the oldest and most important agricultural fairs of the region.
The weekend of Cantine Aperte held at the end of May each year and the evening of Calici di Stelle provide a perfect opportunity to sample some of the best of Galatina's wines, noted among the best of the region.

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