On the territory of the peninsula Salentinskogo - "Italian heel" - survived countless dovecotes towers built along the coast in ancient times .  A few kilometers south of the city of Otranto, in the Valle delle Memory, on a high hill stands a round tower Torre Pinta, which dominates the surrounding area .  This is one of the most characteristic samples of dovecotes, Christians erected in the form of a Latin cross .  Three short "wing" of the cross oriented strictly to the west, south and east, and the dark gallery, correlated with long "wing", facing north .  All niches and low ceilings wide corridor visible deep marks left by pigeon claws .  And if you pay at Torre Pinta more attention, it is possible to see some of the features related to ancient messapskoy culture - such as the furnace, which was used for cremation, hundreds of pits that contained the urn with the ashes of the dead, or stone step along the wall, where, according to legend, was left dead .  Today it is considered that it was built Messapia Torre Pinta . 

This tower was detected in August 1976, the Milanese architect Antonio Suzini, who was firmly convinced that the numerous small cubicles found inside were intended for the maintenance of the pigeons. Moreover, the strategic location allows us to assume that there could stop pigeons who "served" the Bourbon troops, standing garrison in Otranto. The oldest part of Torre Pinta - in fact, a round tower, dates back to the Middle Ages.