Otranto is a town and comune in the province of Lecce (Apulia, Italy), in a fertile region once famous for its breed of horses.It is located on the east coast of the Salento peninsula. The Strait of Otranto, to which the city gives its name, connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea and separates Italy from Albania. The harbour is small and has little trade. The lighthouse Faro della Palascìa, at approximately 5 km southeast of Otranto, marks the most easterly point of the Italian mainland. About 50 km south lies the promontory of Santa Maria di Leuca (so called since ancient times from its white cliffs, leukos being Greek for white), the southeastern extremity of Italy, the ancient Promontorium lapygium or Sallentinum. The district between this promontory and Otranto is thickly populated and very fertile. Otranto main sights include:The Aragonese Castle, reinforced by Emperor Frederick II and rebuilt by Alphonso II of Naples The Cathedral, consecrated in 1088, a work of Count Roger I adorned later , by Bishop Jonathas, with a mosaic floor; it has a rose window and side portal. The interior, a basilica with nave and two aisles, contains columns said to come from a temple of Minerva and a fine mosaic pavement , with interesting representations of the months, Old Testament subjects and others. Bones and relics of the Martyrs of Otranto, who perished in the 15th-century siege surround the high altar. The church has a crypt supported by forty-two marble columns. The same Count Roger also founded a Basilian monastery here, which, under Abbot Nicetas, became a place of study; its library was nearly all bought by Bessarion.The church of San Pietro, with Byzantine frescoes. The catacombs of Torre Pinta. Idro, a small river which the toponym Otranto stems from.