Santa Maria a Cerrate, in the territory of the municipality of Lecce is one of the most beautiful examples of Romanesque style in Apulia. The abbey was built at the end of the 12th century by the Count of Lecce Tancredi d’Altavilla, according to the legend after the Virgin Mary appeared to him in this place. Of particular beauty is the facade and the side portico. The abbey was an important religious place until the 16th century, then it was abandoned and sacked. Restored in 1965, in 2012 it became the property of FAI, the Italian Environmental Fund.
