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| Inhabitants' name: Montesanesi |
The civic coat of arms
of Montesano Salentino is marked by a blue background on which a big
 mountain
is represented. There are no historical papers dealing with the origins of the
first, rudimentary, urban nucleus. It might have been founded by a group of
people who settled in this territory for its good climate and the fertility
of the lands. According to another theory in ancient times there was a Church
devoted to St Angelo, and near this church the people started to build the first
houses. After the destruction of this centre Montesano Salentino rose. The
feudal age in the Salento began after the arrival of the Normans but the first
historical documents of Montesano date back to the XVI century, when it was
incorporated into the Marquisate of Specchia, under the control of the D'
Aragonas and of the Marullis. This centre became a real small town only in 1947
when it got its own administrative autonomy. Previously, it was a small village
under the administration
of Miggiano. he most well-known local people are Saverio Scolozzi, a highly
esteemed priest and excellent physician of the XVIII century, and the Bitonti
Brothers, who lived in the XVIII century too and were famous surgeons.
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