centro storico, difensivo, Francavilla Fontana, Franca Villa (denominazione storica), Francavilla d'Otranto (denominazione storica)

Francavilla Fontana, south-west of Brindisi, is a consolidated town defined by natural and artificial boundaries and ringed by historic quarters. Its origins lie in a village that grew around the Mother Church, site of the discovery of an icon of the Madonna. Generous tax exemptions granted by Philip I of Anjou allowed the settlement, then called Villa San Salvatore, to expand rapidly; it was renamed Franca Villa, from the French ville for ‘town’ and franca for ‘tax-free’. To distinguish it from other places, it became Francavilla d’Otranto, and only in 1864 Francavilla Fontana, recalling the Byzantine icon of the Madonna della Fontana.

As the population swelled, houses were laid out with increasing order along clear axes. Under the Imperiali family, new borghi were developed with regular street patterns: Michele Imperiali extended the street to the Carmelitans and built the Borgo Casalicchio, and his descendants continued the grid. Cosimo De Giorgi noted this orderly plan. The historic centre still functions as a mix of religious, productive, craft, hospital and residential spaces.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.