GRAND HOTEL RIVIERA

The Neretina coast stretches for more than 20 km on a stretch from Sant'Isidoro to Santa Maria al Bagno: beaches with finest sand, rocky cliffs overlooking the sea and crystal clear waters offer a bath in total tranquility. It includes three marine.

Santa Maria hides under its houses, horseshoe-shaped on the sea, the remains of an ancient civilization. Originally in this marina was located the thriving port of the city, whose origins date back to Roman times, if not Messapica, of which many remains of settlements have been found. After the Second World War, Santa Maria welcomed many Jews who survived the Nazi extermination camps, whose presence witnessed three murals, kept in the local Museum of Memory and Reception: for this great hospitality demonstrated by the city on January 27, 2005 the City Nardò has been awarded the Gold Medal for Civil Merit. Following the promenade, characterized by characteristic creeks and by the Punta dell'Aspide, the promontory of rocks stretched out over the sea, you come to Santa Caterina: the seaside resort of the Ionian coast. its name to an old church dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria, still existing. Delimited by the Tower of St. Catherine and the Tower of the High, it features a beautiful and sandy beach, equipped with a seaside and underwater grotto, also visited by the less experienced. In the immediate hinterland there is the shady pine forest, from which you can see a splendid panorama of the coast. Starting from Santa Caterina and walking through the beautiful nature park of Porto Selvaggio and the Swamp of the Captain, you come to the place of Sant'Isidoro: a frequent destination bathing, with backdrops and uncontaminated. Until the 1950s, the land adjacent to the coast adjoined a rural landscape, with vineyards, olive groves and typical buildings. A monumental fountain dominates the square, with boulevards, staircases, and adequate lighting. It is an ideal place for events of all kinds and quiet walks. Along the Neretina lane you can admire seven coastal towers, a testimony of a far-away past, which constitute a particular connotation of the landscape. Their function, due to their height, shape and structure, was to allow sighting of incursions and to have a good communication system for the transmission of orders along the coast and inland. A peculiarity of these towers lies in being viewed from each other and in having an identical structure: a large compartment on the ground floor and a terrace with a belvedere for observation and signaling.