Acaya Castle – Acaya Gate loop from Merine

Hiking trails & Routes

Acaya Castle – Acaya Gate loop from Merine

Hard

4.5

(6)

hikers

Acaya Castle – Acaya Gate loop from Merine

05:14

20.6km

40m

Hiking

Hard hike. Very good fitness required. Easily walkable paths.

Last updated: September 26, 2026

Waypoints

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2.73 km

Stage 1 (Lecce–San Foca), Salento Way

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6.20 km

Via Francigena trail marker

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The Cammino del Salento largely follows the Via Francigena, which is why you occasionally encounter the waymarkers or pretty milestones of the so-called "Frankenweg" (Pilgrim's Way).

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14.8 km

Porta Sant'Oronzo of Acaya

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14.8 km

The Castle of Acaya was built to protect the fortified citadel by Gian Giacomo dell'Acaya, trusted architect of Charles V, who had been entrusted with the strengthening of the defensive walls of Lecce and its castle. He did the same here, between 1521 and 1535, transforming the small agricultural village into a typically Renaissance fortress.

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14.8 km

Acaya Castle

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The Castle overlooks the splendid square where the entrance gate to the village stands

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14.9 km

Acaya Gate

Highlight • Historical Site

I'm not talking about any village, but about one of the most beautiful ancient villages in Italy located in the heart of Salento: the fortified town of Acaya. It is a small fraction of Vernole, with just over 400 inhabitants, an area rich in history and a few kilometers from the sea.
Its particular historical importance is due precisely to being the only example of a fortified city in Southern Italy, with a seventeenth-century appearance and a typically Renaissance imprint in style, which has survived the centuries and wars almost unscathed.

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