The salentine peninsula is characterized by some common features that distinguish it from the rest of the region from a linguistic point of view, but also because of its architecture and its traditions.
An issue, that’s being discussed for a long time, is the problem of the real cultural borders of Salento. In fact, they don’t correspond to the geographical borders of the salentine peninsula, but they seem to delimit a smaller piece of land, whose size varies according to the element that is considered. The convention there followed, for example, leaves out from Salento places as Massafra, Statte, Montemesola, Crispiano, Martina Franca, Locorotondo, Cisternino and Fasano that, however, can be defined “salentine” geographically speaking. However, if the dialect is considered as a decisive element, important towns as Taranto or Ostuni, will be excluded. On the contrary, will be included Egnazia near Fasano, if we refer to the Messapian culture or Martina Franca, situated in Valle d’Itria, if we look to the Baroque architecture.
In the end, it must be remembered that a leading role in interpreting the cultural borders of Salento has played a certain need of cultural autonomy from Lecce of the new provinces of Brindisi and Taranto, to which Lecce has answered claiming for themselves the concept of “salentinità”. Also for these reasons, in some contexts, still today, only the province of Lecce is considered Salento

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