Oria

A little town in Apulia's Salento region with an unusually dense concentration of historic churches and a lively café and restaurant scene for its size, Oria has roots stretching back to the Neolithic and was, according to Strabo, the political capital of the Messapians. Its medieval centre, threaded with narrow lanes and steps, is anchored by the ship-shaped Swabian castle built under Frederick II, and the town served as a significant Jewish community from the 1st to the 10th century.

• Population14,715
• Nearest water from center4.4 km
• Nearest mountain from center15.0 km
• UNESCO within 50 km10