Otranto

At the heel of the Italian boot on the Adriatic coast, Otranto is the easternmost town in Italy and has been a strategic maritime crossing point since antiquity. The 12th-century cathedral contains a floor mosaic of extraordinary scale and ambition, depicting the Tree of Life with scenes from myth, legend, and history across the entire nave. The coast south of the town, the Salento Peninsula, transitions from white limestone cliffs to transparent turquoise coves known collectively as the Riviera dei Trabocchi.