CASTELFORTE

On the hill between Racale and Taviano, where the land rises just enough to gaze out to sea, stands Castelforte: a mysterious place that seems suspended, as if time had stopped flowing.

This is how it presents itself: a village that still bears the traces of what once was and what no longer is, in its eclectic architecture that never completely surrenders, but demands care and remembrance.

The name itself, Castelforte, evokes a sense of protection; it is no coincidence that right here, between the 1940s and 1960s, years in which Salento was trying to recover from the poverty of war, Dr. Gino Giannì imagined and built the Casa della Madre e del Fanciullo: a project that can be defined as utopia, in the highest sense of the word.

A concrete and philanthropic utopia, born to offer refuge to those who had none and embodied in colorful buildings facing the Gulf of Gallipoli, so that even the view could be a relief.  Sources recall that Castelforte was conceived as a place of protection for mothers and children, then became a tourist and recreational center, then a senior center, then a refuge for troubled youth, before being abandoned to its fate.

And yet, anyone who climbs up here immediately understands why Giannì chose this particular spot: it's a place that seems made to breathe, with the horizon open to the wind.

Today, however, Castelforte is a magical and silent village; its houses, pavilions, small temple, and the structures that once hosted meetings and activities have become backdrops to a past that endures: silence, peeling walls, and stairs leading to empty rooms. Yet, in every detail, one can still sense the original striving for goodness and beauty, for an idea of ​​community that, for a while, was real here.