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San Cassiano is a small
and suggestive village of the Salento. In the historical centre the visitor can
see the
 stately
Cito Palace, an elegant noble residence (XIX century). The façade has an
imposing portal over which there is the coat of arms of family and along its
sides there are two columns. About the churches the most important is the Parish
dedicated to St. Rocco, and probably built in the XVII century. The façade has
a richly decorated portal and the Clock Tower and the imposing bell tower are
really interesting to see. The Basilian Crypt of the Madonna of the Consolation
is very important from the historical and artistical points of view. It is
outside the inhabited centre and it dates back to the X century. it is made up
of four aisles and inside you can see and admire some wonderful frescoes dating
to different periods. Recently some ancient Byzantine graves have been
recovered. The Church of Our Lady of the assumption is very small and its style
is simple. The protector of San Cassiano is St. Rocco, that is celebrated on
August 16th.
The nickname of the
people from San Cassiano is "cuccuasci" , a dialectal word meaning owls. In
fact, in
the past there were a lot of owls since San Cassiano was full of rocks and
precipices (the natural habitat of these birds). However, the inhabitants of
San Cassiano do not like this nickname because according to a popular legend
this is the bird of ill omen.
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