OTRANTO  , a seaport and archiepiscopal see of

Apulia, Italy, in the province of Lecce, from which it iS''29z M . S.E. by rail, 49 ft. above sea-level . Pop . (1901) 2295 . It is beautifully situated on the east coast of the peninsula of the ancient Calabria (q.v.) . The castle was erected by Alphonso of Aragon; the cathedral, consecrated in 1o88, has a rose window and side portal of 1481 . The interior, a basilica with nave and two aisles, contains columns said to come from a temple of Minerva and a fine mosaic pavement of 1166, with interesting representations of the months, Old Testament subjects, &c . It has a crypt supported by forty-two marble columns . The church of S . Pietro has Byzantine frescoes . Two submarine cables start from Otranto, one for Valona, the other for Corfu . The harbour is small and has little trade .

Otranto occupies the site of the ancient Hydrus or Hydruntum, a

town of Greek origin . In Roman times it was less important than Brundusium as a point of embarkation for the East, though the distance to Apollonia was less than from Brundusium . It remained in the hands of the Byzantine emperors until it was taken by Robert Guiscard in 1o68 . In 148o it was utterly destroyed by the Turkish fleet, and .has never since recovered its importance . About 30 M . S.E. lies the promontory of S . Maria di Leuca (so called since ancient times from its white cliffs), the S.E. extremity of Italy, the ancient Promontorium lapygium or Sallentinum . The district between this promontory and Otranto is thickly populated, and very fertile . (T .