Like many towns of Southern Italy, Fasano is characterized by an old neighbour made of many small and narrow streets, whitewash walls, vaults and tiny squares. From the ancient walls you still can see a Tower in Via S. Francesco, where once was a city gate. In the very heart of the old town you can admire the churches,among those stands majestic Matrice, dating back to the 17th century, dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Its solemn late-Renaissance façade, recently redone, has a gorgeous stone carved rose window. The three-naves inside, unfortunately forced in the 70s’, still preserves Baroque altars, paintings of Venetian and Neapolitan school, and wooden sculptures. Outside the walls, on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, in 1669 was built the beautiful Baroque church of Purgatory, in whose inside pretty remarkable are the polychrome marble and hard gemstones main altar of Neapolitan mastery, the eighteenth-century paintings and a wooden crucifix dating back to the end of the 16th century.
Another old city gate is present-day Via del Balì, at whose entrance a stone plaque commemorates the victory of Fasano against Turkish on June 2, 1678. Walking ahead, on the right you’ll find a vault named “Arco del Cavaliere”, which is the entrance to the court of Palazzo Baliale, where there can still be found traces of the ancient premises restored in 1800, present-day seat of the Municipality Building, in the main square of Fasano, named after the martyr poet Ignazio Ciaia. Walking down the two main streets it’s possible to admire some scenic 18th and 19th palaces.
LEGENDA
1. Tower
2. Town Gardens
3. Piazza I. Ciaia
4. Town Hall
5. S. Nicola Church
6. Clock Tower
7. Palazzo Gaito
8. Palazzo Brandi
9. Palazzo Telesio
10. Purgatory Church
11. Palazzo Ciaia
12. Balì Arch
13. Palazzo Seggio
14. Town Library
15. Matrice Church
16. Assunta Church
17. S. Giuseppe Oratory
18. Maria Santissima del Rosario Church
19. Portico and Teresiane Cloister
20. Madonna della Grazia Church
21. San Francesco da Paola Church
