Martina Franca

Martina Franca is a town of nearly 50,000 inhabitants in the province of Taranto. Its origins date back to the tenth century, when it was born on the mountain of San Martino, a village of refugees who fled from Taranto and from the continuous raids of the Saracens. The juridical foundation of the village occurred in 1300, when the Prince of Taranto Philip I of Anjou granted various privileges to the inhabitants. The current name of the city is a dual reference to this event: “Martina” in honour of Saint Martin, as the mountain on which the first settlement was born and as the patron saint of the French cavalry; “Franca” in memory of the privileges granted to the town by Philip I of Anjou.