FARMHOUSES

During the centuries, what started as small tracts of individual pieces of land, merged into unified territories under the care of local farmers. Their sovereign authority was to subvert and develop machinery and tools to control the territories and profit from the land itself. Therefore, since the Middle Ages, the building and growth of the regions farmhouses accurately reflected the economic infrastructure and this way of working remained unchanged for centuries finishing only in the latter half of the 20th century. Central to the farmhouse was the courtyard around which, were built the various buildings necessary; the house itself, stables and animal housing and the barns and storehouses. They ranged throughout the area from modest country homes to the fortified farmhouses used as part of this regions defence structures. The frontage of the fortified farmhouses typically had a watchtower. During the latter half of the 18th century, many landowners saw the advantage of exploiting the land for major profit; and not only the land. This saw the rise of farmhouse villas or holiday homes, which gradually developed, into small holiday villages, where city dwellers could escape the heat of the summers. The most daring farmhouse owners added doors, balconies and gazebos, gardens and decorated with stucco and frescos, which had been unheard of in the spartan rural structures, and they became little architectural jewels.

FORTIFIED FARMHOUSES

Unfortunately, due to its position, the Salento peninsula had, since around the 8th century, been subject to pillaging and destruction from nautical invaders and pirates, which peaked during the crisis and subsequent fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. During the 16th century, under the reign of Charles V of Spain, the first stage in territorial defences was initiated, along both coastlines. Pre-existing farmhouses were fortified with higher floors, crenulations, trapdoors, battlements and buttress. These features have remained through the centuries to the present day; circular towers and conical towers, footbridges and battlements, showing the daily life in a fortified farmhouse. The walls themselves present unexpected traps. These efficient structures helped unite horsemen who got separated during battle and the inhabitants were ready to intervene at the first signs of danger. Coastal towers, castles and farmhouses communicated with each other by smoke signals during the day and by flaming pyres at night. This military strength and strategy along with the constant coastal surveillance throughout the 24-hour period, helped to stop the terrifying Turkish invaders who ravaged and raped not only the land but also its inhabitants.