3 Holidays rentals Santa Maria al Bagno

The accommodation

As a result of the division of two houses of the 1950s, the three two-roomed flats are just 50 metres from both the sea and the centre of the village.

The flats are suitable especially for a relaxing and sun-kissed holiday, because they are also within easy walking distance of both the finely sandy beaches and the low cliffs of Santa Maria al Bagno. Moreover, in the immediate vicinity there are bars, restaurants, supermarkets, haberdashers, a bank and a chemist’s.

The flats were totally renovated in 2009 and furnished according to a simple style. They are made up of a living room with a sofa bed at the entrance, a double room and a wide bathroom and provided with a fully equipped kitchen, air conditioning, a washing machine, an iron and ironing board and a satellite TV.

Setting

Although prehistoric in its origins – lots of archaeological finds were discovered in the cave Grotta del Fico, Santa Maria al Bagno developed as a fishing village in the Messapian period.

In 272 B.C. it fell to the Romans who built the port Emporium Nauna and the baths. In the XII century the Teutonic Knights dwelled in an abbey and a big monastery. In the Middle Ages it was left after being repeatedly razed to the ground by pirates, Saracens, Venetians… After centuries of complete neglect, some aristocratic families began to put up luxurious residences as their seaside vacation homes. However, the proper reconstruction only started towards the end of the XIX century when some people from Nardò – Santa Maria al Bagno belongs to its municipality – decided to make a seaside resort of it.

Between 1943 and 1947 more than 100.000 survivors of the Nazi concentration camps on their way to the nascent State of Israel were given hospitality just in Santa Maria al Bagno and its environs, where some buildings were adapted to meet their needs.

For example, a house in the main square was converted into a synagogue and the manor farm Masseria Mondonuovo into the kibbutz Elia. That is why on 27th January 2005 the President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi awarded a gold medal to the town of Nardò. Among the most illustrious guests there were also Ben Gurion, Moshe Dayan, Dov Schilansky and Golda Meir.

As a testimony to that period there are three mural paintings made by some of the deportees, particularly Zivi Miller. This gave the idea of building a museum – inaugurated on the 14th January 2009 – which keeps, besides the mural paintings, the relevant historical documents of the archive of a local cultural association and of the town of Nardò. As part of the museum there are two libraries which also use multimedia systems.