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Acaya Gate – Acaya Castle loop from Acaya

Acaya Gate – Acaya Castle loop from Acaya

Moderate

4.0

(4)

riders

Acaya Gate – Acaya Castle loop from Acaya

02:01

51.9km

130m

Road cycling

Moderate road ride. Good fitness required. Some segments of this route may be unpaved and difficult to ride. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: June 24, 2026

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After 8.49 km for 230 m

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

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21 m

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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132 m

Acaya Castle

Highlight • Castle

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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3.34 km

Olive trees

Highlight • Natural

Typical for the region - Olive trees

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6.41 km

Le Cesine Nature Reserve

Highlight • Forest

The Oasis, which covers about 380 hectares, is one of the most preserved and important humid environments in southern Italy, the last survivor of the vast swampy and wooded area that stretched from Brindisi to Otranto. The landscape of which it is made up alternates dunes, marsh areas, drainage canals, mixed woods and Mediterranean scrub. In the past, however, the whole area was an unhealthy zone, not cultivable, which affected the productivity of the Salento area and where the anopheles mosquito lived, carrying serious diseases and infections. For these reasons in the nineteenth century it was decided to reclaim the area, with the dual aim of defeating malaria and obtaining land to be used for cultivation.
The reclamation of the area was carried out by proceeding with the canalization of the land, or with the construction of a dense network of minor canals connected to a main and larger one, which made fresh water flow towards the sea, and with the preparation of a series wells capable of collecting and storing a certain quantity of water to be used in case of need. In addition to having become a point of reference for all lovers of walking and outdoor sports, thanks to its position along one of the main migratory routes, today the oasis is identified as an essential habitat for numerous aquatic and migratory birds, as well as endemic species of amphibians and small mammals.

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8.61 km

Specchia Ruggeri Tower

Highlight • Monument

The tower is part of an extensive defensive system spread along the Apulian and overall Salento coasts, referring to the XV and XVI centuries. Built by Charles V in 1584, to oppose the enemy raids, it has a truncated cone shape and a single floor (the original base restored), as well as an external masonry staircase and a terrace for the guards. The location of the watch-towers, called the "sentinels of the sea", allowed that the signals could be spread both laterally along the coast line and parallel to the internal fortified villages, thanks to the use of fire signals during the night and smoke during the day.

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13.3 km

Tower of San Foca

Highlight • Monument

Today the seat of the Harbor Master's Office, after the overly invasive restoration discussed, it still holds the primacy of symbol of the town that hosts tourists and locals to enjoy the sea view, the flavors and the wind, which always blows here.

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39.3 km

Bastion of the Urban Walls

Highlight • Historical Site

The imposing fortification is a testimony of the sixteenth-century defensive interventions implemented by the Emperor Charles V to stem the Turkish invasions. The adaptation of the walls was entrusted to the architect Gian Giacomo dell’Acaya, and in 1542 received a new push by the governator Don Ferrante Loffredo. The walls were therefore replaced by a fortification equipped with bulwarks capable of resisting at the attack of the new war weapons of the time. The defensive front was about 60 meters long and consisted of two floors: the upper one beyond the level of the moat, and the lower one, partially excavated in the rocky bank which today corresponds to the internal planking level.

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51.9 km

End point

Bus stop

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

44.3 km

4.97 km

2.11 km

230 m

203 m

142 m

Surfaces

50.9 km

657 m

230 m

164 m

< 100 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (50 m)

Lowest point (0 m)

Weather

Tuesday 14 July

36°C

21°C

0 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 14.0 km/h

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Acaya Gate – Acaya Castle loop from Acaya

Porta Sant'Oronzo of Acaya

Acaya Gate

Acaya Castle

Olive trees

Le Cesine Nature Reserve

Specchia Ruggeri Tower

Tower of San Foca

Bastion of the Urban Walls

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