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| Inhabitants' name:
Sanarichesi |
The civic coat of arms
of Sanarica has a blue background and it represents five towers that look like a
 fortress.
There are no certain news about the origins of this village but the man was
already here during the Bronze Age as the presence of a menhir testifies.
Probably the first village was built during the X century, after the
destruction of the near village of Muro Leccese. In fact, the survivors who had
managed to escape from Leo III Isaurico's persecutions took refuge to a niche
where there was the image of the Madonna of the Graces. Here they built a
village that became bigger and bigger. The toponym derives from the word "to
cure" and it is closely connected to the fact that when the people invoked the
Holy Virgin Mary, she helped them. During the feudal age ( XII century) the
Norman king governed this territory that later was annexed first to the County
of Lecce and then to the Principality of Taranto until 1463, when the last
descendant of the Orsini Del Balzo family died. Later it was governed by the
Lubellis, the Martinos and the Basurtos who ruled until 1806. Among the most
important local people from Sanarica there are: Francesco Paolo Basurto and
Evangelista Lubelli, that were both feudal vassals.
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