The civic coat of arms of Castrignano de' Greci has a fortress with three towers on a golden background. We do not know exactly when the and how this village was founded. The legend says it was founded by Minos, the son of Zeus. Some scholars think it was founded by a group of people from Crete and by their chief, Giapige. Other scholars think it was created by a Roman centurion called Castrinius who won this land for the courage he had showed in war. He build a house for himself and his soldiers then the village grew bigger and bigger. The name of the village could derive from the Latin ‘castrum’ that means ‘fortress’ and we can suppose that in the past there was a castle that probably was the origin of the village. In the 9^th-10^th century the population grew because some people was running away from the near hamlets destroyed by the Saracens. This village too was sacked by the Longobards, Greeks and Saracens. When the Normans came, the King Tancredi gave the village to Pietro Indrimi. In the 14^th century the village was included in the Principality of Taranto with the Orsini del Balzos. The village was also ruled by the Guevaras, Giovanni Filippo Prato, the Paganos, the Barons of Acaya, the Guarinis, the Marescallos and the Protonico, the last were the Barons Gualtieris. Among the famous people from Castrignano we remember: Francesco Antonio Meleti lived in the 18th century and was an appreciated priest and man of Arts. Vittorio Tarantini was a philosopher of the 15th century. Onofrio da Castrignano e Francesco Marzo were both scientists and philosophers. Angiolino Cotardo lived in the 20th century, fought in the Second World War and was also imprisoned. When the war was over he studied in the University of Naples and took his degree in European Languages and Literatures. His favourite language was Greek and he went to Greece several times for seminars. He was also a primary school teacher, he also taught Greek to children. He wrote several and appreciated books.