Walking along the sun-kissed alleys of our historic centre, it's hard to imagine what hides beneath the flagstones. And yet, we Matino people know well that another Matino exists down there — silent and invisible.
Our village and the surrounding countryside conceal an extraordinary cave and hypogean heritage. A veritable "underground city" of olive presses, crypts and grottoes that tell the story of millennia, from prehistory to the hard winters of past centuries. Are you ready to come down with us and discover it?
The Hypogean Olive Presses and the hard life of the "ciurma"
The most fascinating part of this underground network, directly beneath the houses of the historic centre, is made up of the hypogean olive presses. In Salento, olive oil was an absolute treasure, a "liquid gold" exported even to light the streets of great capitals like London and Paris. But life down there was anything but romantic.
Imagine these spaces in November: cold, extremely damp, lit only by faint lanterns. This is where the "ciurma" worked — a team of five labourers commanded by the Nachiru (the foreman). They worked barefoot, day and night. The engine of everything was a poor blindfolded mule going round and round to turn enormous millstones. The olive paste was spread onto discs of woven rope (the fisculi) and pressed in enormous screw presses.
Why was this oil undrinkable? To cut costs, the olives were not pressed immediately but were piled up for months in large storerooms (the sciave). By the time the ciurma finally got to work, the olives at the bottom had fermented and gone rancid. The result? An oil with extremely high acidity, terrible to eat but perfect as a fuel: the famous lamp oil.
The Serra di Sant'Eleuterio: legends and ancient rites
But underground Matino is not only oil and toil. Moving about 2 km north-east from the town centre, you climb to almost 200 metres above sea level on the Serra di Sant'Eleuterio. From here the view is breathtaking: you dominate the bell tower of San Giorgio and your gaze stretches all the way to the sea at Gallipoli.
Here stands the Sant'Eleuterio site, linked to two fascinating legends. Some say it was founded by a soldier from Casarano who survived after falling into a ditch, while others tell of a wealthy Matino man whose horse fell into a cistern and who was miraculously saved by the Saint. Whatever the truth, historical sources tell us of a 13th-century monastery. The ancient hypogeum served as a place of worship: a cave crypt once beautifully frescoed with figures of Saints in the Greek rite, of which today only a few touching red and blue traces remain.
The Grotta di Sant'Ermete: hippos and Neanderthals in Salento
Matino's time machine goes even further back — all the way to prehistory. On the border between Matino and Casarano lies the Grotta di Sant'Ermete, a small natural shelter carved into the limestone.
In the past, this niche was frescoed (you can still make out the remains of the checkered garment of a figure identified as "Santa Palmeta"). But the true treasure of this cave is what it has given back to archaeologists: fauna remains and artefacts that tell us of when the valley was inhabited by Neanderthal Man! During the ice age, deer, cattle, horses, rhinoceroses and even enormous hippos roamed this valley. An inestimable heritage that demonstrates how humans lived in these caves uninterruptedly through to the medieval age.
Emerging from these historical depths makes you appreciate even more the light and flavours of our land. After exploring Matino's olive presses and secret crypts, we invite you to return to the present and take a seat in the courtyard of Locanda Tu Marchese.
Here the oil is no longer rancid lamp oil, but a pure and fragrant extra virgin, cold-pressed from the olives of our farm. It is the secret ingredient we use to dress our traditional dishes and let you savour the true essence of Salento.
Note: Locanda Tu Marchese is home to a beautifully restored hypogean olive press. For our guests, it is always a special moment to be able to dine, have dinner or simply relax in the ancient, evocative stone spaces where the "ciurma" once toiled.
To explore other olive presses in the historic centre (almost always closed and accessible by appointment with a guide), the official reference is the Pro Loco di Matino — Piazza San Giorgio, 5 — info@prolocomatino.it.