Roman Catholic Diocese of Ugento-Santa Maria di Leuca

A place from other times where people still have a certain genuineness. A very beautiful place to visit absolutely. It hides great potential for a strong tourist revival. If a noteworthy political response does not arrive, its destiny will be oblivion.

It's a nice place to spend an hour and sip something. Nothing more. It becomes pleasant when there is an evening with the dance of the pizzica.

Sn seminarian state in ugento. All in all a positive experience but, I was too introverted and in adolescence is not good I gave up school I certainly could have done more x better opportunities. I can't complain anyway thanks to that experience. I know the cathedral well and it's fabulous.

What can I say ... It speaks for itself !!

From the origins to the nineteenth century [edit] edit wikitesto] The diocese of Ugento has been documented with certainty since the 12th century. Recent studies of André Jacob proved the existence of Bishop John, lived in unknown time between 1125 and 1175. [4] The Cassinense obituary mentions the death of Symon episcopus et monachus de Ogenti, which occurred on September 23 of an unknown year, but in the last decades of the century. [5] Moreover, a letter from Pope Innocent III, dated June 23, 1198, mentions Ugento as a suffragan diocese of the archdiocese of Otranto, an ecclesiastical province to which Ugento will remain bound until the twentieth century. [6] The chronotaxis of diocesan bishops in the thirteenth century is uncertain and incomplete. After some anonymous bishops in the first half of the century, Bishop Lando is known, elected in 1253 and died between 1280 and 1282. The chapter of the cathedral is documented for the first time on the occasion of the nomination of Bishop Goffredo in 1282, capitular election confirmed by Pope Martin IV. [7] The first religious settlements in the diocese date back to the 15th century, with the arrival of the minor Franciscans in Ugento and the Conventuals in Specchia and the foundation of the female Benedictine monastery of Ugento, the only female religious presence in the diocese up until the nineteenth century. Between 1500 and 1800 all the bishops of Ugento were presented to the episcopate by the kings of Naples. Among the sixteenth-century prelates, Antonio Minturno (1559-1565) distinguished himself, who took part in the third session of the Council of Trent and celebrated a diocesan synod in 1564; and Desiderio Mazzapica (1566-1593), who was among the consultant theologians at the Council of Trent. Other diocesan synods were celebrated by Geronimo Martini in 1645 and by Antonio Carafa in 1680; another synod was called and presided over by the vicar capitular Giuseppe Salzedo in 1720. During the sixteenth century, the diocese was enriched by the presence of numerous religious orders: «the Carmelites settled in Torrepaduli (1560) and Presicce (1566), the Capuchins in Salve (1579) and Ruffano (1621), minors Franciscans in Presicce (1603) and the Dominicans in Specchia (1608). " The reports for the ad limina visits, those of the pastoral visits and the synodal constitutions represent "the" privileged "sources for the history of the diocese, its institutional and welfare organization, the activity of the bishops and the religiosity of the environment". [ 9] The first report prepared for the ad limina visit, and come down to us is delivered personally in Rome by Bishop Juan Bravo Lagunas in 1620; of Bishop Antonio Carafa (1663-1704), the Vatican archives preserve twelve reports; from 1620 to 1777 there are a total of 31 reports made for the Roman Curia by the bishops of Uganda. There were also numerous pastoral visits by the bishops of Uganda to the diocesan territory. The first documented is that of Bishop Antonio Minturno in 1559; other visits followed in 1628 and 1637; from the last quarter of the seventeenth century the visits have an almost annual basis, interest clue and care of the bishops for the proper administration of his diocese. The seminary, mandated by the Council of Trent, was set up late and dates back only to 1752 by Bishop Thomas Mazza; the meager income of the bishop's canteen and the difficulty in raising the necessary funds for its maintenance, procrastinarono two centuries the foundation of the seminar. From the pastoral visit made by the vicar capitular De Rossi in 1711 we know, even by name, the over 400 ecclesiastics, of whom 225 priests, who constituted the status clericorum of the diocese, out of a diocesan population of about ten thousand faithful; from this census, however, the cities of Ugento and Gemini were excluded, so the number of clerics was presumably greater.

Beautiful place

Very functional Episcopal Curia. The premises have been distributed taking into account the numerous sectors. The priests assigned to the various offices are particularly competent and experienced. The gifts of the Bishop Mons. Vito Angiuli are innumerable.