Pre-historic monuments are: dolmens, menhirs, barrows and the graffiti in the Cave of the Deer at Porto Badisco. Bones of pre-historic animals can be seen in the Paleontology Museum in Maglie.

The archaeological sites of Egnathia, Rudiae, Vaste, Roca, Cavallino, Alezio, Vereto, Soleto and Manduria with its vast archaeological zone.
Otranto: the Hypogeum of Torre Pinta. The archaeological site of Vaste and the faithful reconstruction of a Messapic hut, the walls, the Museum housed in the baronial palace.
Rudiae: Quintus Ennius's homeland with its amphitheatre and its hypogeum. Patu': the monument called "the Hundred Stones" built with the megalithic walls of Vereto. Roca: the castle, the walls, the necropolis and the marine Cave of Poetry.

The Roman theatre and amphitheatre, the Roman Museum in Lecce, the jars, the columns and the piers that support the main entrance of Palazzo Arcella in Otranto; lay-outs of ancient roads in the country.

The great number of hamlets that nowadays are being excavating by the archaeologists : Apigliano, Absiliano, Tabelle, Stigliano, Vicinanze, Sombrino, Quattro Macine. The Byzantine church of St.Peter in Otranto. The churches of S.Mauro and S. Pietro dei Samari in Gallipoli. The "laure" (crypts) covered with frescoes by the Basilian monks who were obliged to escape from Eastern countries because of the iconoclastic persecution (between the 7th and the 8th centuries A.D.). The iconographic art in the crypts in the rock; the manuscripts of the Greek codes written during the period of transition from the Greek to the Norman influence exerted on the people and the culture in Salento; the Hellenic culture sustained and preserved by the Italo-Greek monks in the Cenoby of S. Nicola di Casole; there the first European hall of residence was founded in 1060, the second one was in London in 1083; the official end of the Greek rite and the imposition of the Latin rite on the clergy after the Ecclesiastical Council of Trento.

The only example of Norman castle in Salento is Fulcignano castle. The mosaic pavement of the Cathedral in Otranto which is the largest integral mosaic pavement in the world (about 800 sq.metres); the wonderful church of SS. Niccolò and Cataldo in Lecce; the Abbey of S.Maria at Cerrate.

The castle of Oria; the medieval jousting tournament of the Quarters whose standards are kept in the church of St.John; Memories of the Emperor Frederick II in Otranto and Brindisi.

The Angevins conquered Gallipoli in 1268 fighting against the rebellious Ghibelline. The Greek liturgy continued to be used in the cathedral dedicated to S.Maria della Cruciata or della Lizza in Alezio. A long period of wars against the papal authority followed and popes and antipopes were contemporaneously elected. The first Jubilee was proclaimed (1300); the splendid basilica of S.Caterina d'Alessandria with five naves covered with frescoes in Galatina; the tower of Raimondello in Soleto testifies to the importance of the Orsini Del Balzo (de Baux) family; they were Princes of Taranto and established a reign in the reign in southern Italy.

During the Spanish domination, one of the most important event was the assault of Otranto by the Turks under the command of Mohammed II. the strenuous resistance of the people of Otranto lasted thirteen months and contribute to save the Pope and Christianity from Islamic domination. After the war of liberation, the walls and the castle were reconstructed and strengthened.

After the siege of Otranto, castles and watch towers were built or reconstructed together with fortress farm houses in the country. In 1520 , the ancient Segine called Acaya was the first fortified citadel in Italy.

The new town-planning and the explosion of the Baroque; the enduring memory of the assaults by the Turks; the old Greek rites; the Inquisition.

The modern cemeteries; the autograph of J. Murat on the precious mirror in Palazzo Palmieri in Lecce; the large estate; the end of feudalism; the dissolution of the monastic orders.

The Italian Risorgimento ; the anti-Borbone rebellion; the Carbonari of villa Doxi-Stracca in Alezio and of the fortress farm house Torre in Galatina; the wars of independence; the State of Italy; the problem of southern Italy; the early 1900s.

The reclaimed marshland; the completion of the Apulian aqueduct; the anti-fascist persecutions; the reason why the American army did not land on Salento during the Second World War.