Cascata monumentale dell’Acquedotto Pugliese

The monument is in the shape of a giant waterfall which takes up the entire flank of a hill, representing the final monumental and celebrative part of the Acquedotto Pugliese (Puglia Waterworks). It is the result of an ambitious project carried out during the years of the Regime: the water flowing throughout Puglia, arrives at the Sanctuary-Basilica of Santa Maria De Finibus Terrae, where it is symbolically blessed and returned to the sea. As the name of the nearby sanctuary suggests, it is a place of great natural beauty and symbolic charm: the end of the land and the beginning of an endless sea. There are other seven ‘’lonely outposts’’ like this one, inspired by the Roman custom to mark the extreme tip of a land bordering the sea.

The monument represents a unique architectural solution in terms of originality and, as far as the monumental representation of the Roman myth during Fascism is concerned, it lends to the town its historic character of lookout and cultural outpost in the Mediterranean.

Just like the last leg of the Way of St. James in Galicia, this part of Santa Maria di Leuca too is a pilgrimage destination which right at this exact spot, in front of the monument, marks the end of the spiritual route.