1LE/SFT

1LE/SFT

The name was given to it by the ancient Greek sailors who came from the East, who saw this place illuminated by the sun and therefore leukos, white.The rest of the name originates from the landing of St. Peter from Palestine, from numerous testimonies it has emerged that his evangelization process began right here, also changing the name of the town, dedicating it to the Virgin.

The name De finibus terrae instead originates from the Romans. Santa Maria di Leuca is a seaside and fishing centre, in the inlet between Punta Ristola and Punta Meliso, located in a magical position, where it has always been believed that the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea meet.

Nothing could be more wrong, in fact from all the nautical maps and international agreements the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Sea meet at Punta Palascia near Otranto. Pearl of the extreme edge of Italy, it lies in a stretch of coast alternating with cliffs and small sandy coves. The numerous caves are of great historical and naturalistic interest and the seabed is a true paradise for underwater tourism. With a hinterland full of history and culture, splendid landscapes to admire, sumptuous and colorful nineteenth-century villas that slope towards the seafront.

A staircase of 184 steps connects the Basilica to the port below, framing the Apulian Aqueduct which flows into the sea, construction began in 1906 but, with the outbreak of the First World War, work had to stop, the construction sites reopened after the war and the marina was reached in 1939. The monumental staircase and the Roman column were sent by the Duce of Rome. The waterfall has been opened several times over sixty years.

The Finis Terrae sanctuary was born on an ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Minerva. A legend has it that this sanctuary, destroyed and rebuilt several times up to the current eighteenth-century building, is the gateway to paradise and consecrated by St. Peter himself.

Inside there is an original fragment of the painting of the Madonna and Child which was burned by the excursions of Algerian pirates and which now, reworked and completed, is placed on the west wall of the transept.

Log Updated 16:14 24 02 2026

14PL05
30AT252
29AT057
30RC571
26EK511
14DA029
19LR121
1LE74
1LE76
19LR161
26RC001
26OK800
30RC513
26OP519
14DA496
16WM230 
29AT101
14VD163
30LS001
21LE001
44WM001
14PAT1191
14PAT928
30AT252
30AO010
14WW110
26OP519
26HL2
26EK511
56LR555
34CG060
14VD066
14RC226
14SD038
30WW201
14S015
14EK114
30RC474
30RC458 
108AT107
30DR001 
26AT561 
68AT108