Salento is situated at the extreme point of Puglia in the promontory between the Adriatic and the Ionian seas; traditionally a refuge and a safe haven, where sun, wind and sea come together to create a culture, which like an underground water channel, is invisible to the eye and ear. Greek Salento lies at the heart of the peninsula, and its communities continue to retain the cultures, traditions and Greek language that date back to the ancient Hellenic era. Geographically, it is characterised by a vast high plane which in a sense, separates the North West and the South East of the region into separate islands, almost, and which then come together again near the town of Otranto on the Adriatic coast and is then immersed in the sea of Leuca.
Nine communities form Greek Salento; Calimera, Castrignano dei Greci, Corigliano d’Otranto, Martano, Martignano, Melpignano, Soleto, Sternatia and Zollino. The region covers 144 km2 and has a population of around 40,964. The region is all that remains of a once vast empire stretching from Otranto to Casarano to Gallipoli and Nardo and that once traded with the Balkan regions as a regular event. Over the millennia it has been difficult to define Salento as a pre-colonised region, and it is believed that major colonisation of the area only really began once the Roman Empire relaxed its hold on the region. With the Hellenic domination of the region, much of the characteristics typical of that country, followed by the influences of the Byzantine domination gained strength in the area and left visible traces of a refined culture and civilisation here.