Chapel and Well of San Paolo

The small Chapel of San Paolo and the miraculous well, accessible from the adjacent palace, overlook Corso Garibaldi in Galatina.\n\nPalazzo Tondi-Vignola houses the single-nave chapel where “tarantatas” came to seek grace and drink the well water to heal from the spider’s bite. After a long restoration, the altarpiece by Francesco Saverio Lillo depicting St. Paul has now returned to the altar.\n\nIt was from this small 18th-century building that the music and dance that made Salento famous originated: the “pizzica” and the tarantella dance. From the beats of the tambourine used to free women from illness, great popular festivals and the revival of tradition now emerge.\n\nUntil a few decades ago, between sacred and profane, the ritual took place at dawn on June 29, the feast of the patron saints Peter and Paul, inside the chapel or in full view on the steps of the main church.