Alessano is on the side of the Cianci Serra. Together with the small village of Montesardo, it is the highest town in the province of Lecce since it is 186 meters above sea-level.

Alessano was a county-town from 1088 to 1463 and also a Diocese until 1818. In years past Alessano, the mythical Leucadia, was the capital town of the sub region of Cape Leuca.
Alessano's inhabitants are nicknamed "sciudei" (Jews) because there was a Jewish community that built a synagogue, later changed into a Christian church, and lived in a ghetto called the "Giudecca". They were rich merchants and improved the economy of the town. This was not the only one, since other Jewish communities lived in other towns in Salento , but only the inhabitants of Alessano have this nickname.

The Patron Saint of Alessano is S.Trifone, a saint of oriental origin brought by the Venetians who still keep his sacred relics in Venice.
The most important monument of the town is the Main Church, the ex-cathedral, which was planned by the local architect Felice Palma. He could not see the completion of the building work because the church was under construction for over 80 years, from 1763 to 1845; it was finished by the engineer Benedetto Torsello.
The interior in the form of a Latin cross, is divided into three naves by pilasters that bear four columns each.
Worth mentioning is also the most ancient church of the town dedicated to S.Antonio. An epigraph of 1671 walled in the interior of the church attributes its construction to S.Francesco. Important are also the church with the adjoining monastery of the Capuchins and the church of the Madonna del Riposo.

The ducal Palace was probably built by the feudatories Del Balzo between the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries, as testified by the emblem of the family, the sixteen pointed star.
The Palace has often been reconstructed during the centuries.
Worthy of admiration is Palazzo Legari built in 1536 by Donato Legari a wealthy merchant from Tricase. He ordered these words to be written in Latin on the façade of the Palace made "For his own enjoyment and for his descendants and his friends' pleasure." The Palace became a meeting place for his friends and acquaintances who used to spend the night playing cards or gambling .
Worthy of mention are also Palazzo Sangiovanni for its splendid façade in rusticated ashar built towards the end of the fourteenth century and Palazzo Pyrreca.

Alessano > Marina di Novaglie

In the small village of Montesardo the imposing castle, the remains of the Messapian walls that date back to the sixth century B.C. under the battlements of the castle, the rock caves and hypogeal oil mills in the Macurano area are tourist attractions.
The medieval church dedicated to S.Barbara is famous for the invocation to the Saint that still nowadays women sing during stormy weather. It runs, " I see three clouds in the sky, one bringing the rain , another blowing the wind and one more bringing stormy weather". This invocation was also used to ask the Saint for protection against jaundice brought by the rainbow.