Castello di Villa Castelli

The "Li Castelli" farm (from the Latin castellum meaning hamlet, village) was already in an area inhabited in prehistoric times (probably from the end of the Neolithic, IV millennium BC, to the middle of the Bronze Age), and it would have risen on the plant of a Roman rustic villa. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries "Li Castelli" was one of the largest estates in the Francavilla Fontana countryside, and the Imperials, feudal lords of the area, had built a breeding of thoroughbred horses there, which was very flourishing at the end of the eighteenth century. When the last of the Imperials, Michele, died without children, the estate was purchased in 1797 by the Duke of Monteiasi who, to populate it, gave it in enfitèusi to the peasants of Ceglie and Grottaglie willing to move there. The duke built a church there, which he dedicated to the Holy Crucifix, and rearranged the imperial palace to adapt it to his home. At the beginning of the 19th century, the name "Li Castelli" or "Monte Castelli" was replaced with that of Villa Castelli, with reference to the villas (city in French), and in the likeness of Francavilla Fontana, of which Villa Castelli was a fraction. It became a municipality in 1926. An interesting environmental asset is the "gravina" (large ravine), which has returned to its former glory with the planting of Mediterranean plants and essences.