Page 64 - Mediterraneo e dintorni - nr 14

di alleanze tra Stati, tra le quali
quella con gli Ottomani. I “mar-
tiri di Otranto” furono beatificati
solo nel 1771, sotto il pontificato
di Clemente XIV. Non mancarono
da una parte della storiografia di
allora alcune accuse riferite alla
costruzione di svariati documenti
apocrifi per dare alla strage una
veste squisitamente religiosa. Il
cuore della gente non fu però mai

Il sultano turco Maometto II Gedik Ahmed Pascià, inviato da Maometto II
a sbarcare in Italia

formato da truppe del duca Al- stessa chiesa. Circa trecento di
fonso di Calabria, del Papa e di questi ebbero ospitalità dal re a
altri Stati. Napoli tra le mura di Santa Maria
I corpi dei martiri rimasti abban- Maddalena, appellata “dei Marti-
donati sulla collina, vennero ri- ri”, in seguito traslati nella chiesa
composti solo dopo la sconfitta di Santa Maria di Formiello. Solo
degli invasori. La maggior parte dopo sessant’anni venne avan- Alfonso II di Napoli, Duca di Calabria,
ebbe degna sepoltura nella cripta zata la prima richiesta della loro le cui truppe - assieme a quelle del Papa e
di altri Stati - il 10 settembre 1481 liberarono
della cattedrale di Otranto. I re- beatificazione, pur se già ritenuti Otranto dai turchi
sti oggi si trovano in sette grandi martiri perché antitetici “all’in-
teche in legno nella Cappella dei fedele”. La diplomazia di allora
Martiri ricavata nell’abside della bloccò tutto per una questione

ted from Velona, found its ideal stopover ars turned to arms with no mercy. It was of these had hospitality from the king in
in the area of the Alimini lakes, today August 14 when the unheard-of ferocity Naples within the walls of Santa Maria
the Turkish Bay, near Otranto.History of the Turks exploded, bringing about Maddalena, called “dei Martiri”, later
has assigned to the Christian commu- 800 survivors out of the city. Conducted transferred to the church of Santa Maria
nity of Otranto the tragic and mournful on the nearby hill of Minerva, they were di Formiello. The “martyrs of Otranto”
burden of undergoing an unprecedented forced to renounce the Christian faith in were beatified only in 1771, and sancti-
assault, reflecting one of the most vivid order to have their lives saved. The first fied on 12 May 2013. More than five hun-
pages of civil and religious witness. A to refuse that imposition and to give an dred years have passed since that unpre-
real piece for the historical and spiritual example to the rest of the group was the cedented massacre. Otranto goes on with
heritage of Italy. The siege, devoid of any weaver Antonio Pezzulla, known as Pri- its history, with its heroic martyrs, with
real resistance, lasted for 14 long days maldo. Everyone imitated him and was its flowery beauty even in the shadow of
with the Turkish bombards that, in bur- an unprecedented carnage. It will be ne- the pain that the barbarians reserved for
sts, targeted the city from land and sea cessary to arrive on 10 September 1481 to its essence, made of culture and Chri-
through large stone balls still visible to- free Otranto from the Turks thanks to an stianity. The destruction of the Basilian
day.On 11 August, after knocking down army formed by troops of the duke Alfon- monastery of St. Nicholas, of the largest
a secondary door between the walls, the so di Calabria, the Pope and other states. Western library and of the first College of
attackers entered the city. The massacre The bodies of the martyrs left abandoned that time open to young people in Europe
began with all the cruelty on the streets on the hill, were reassembled only after has produced very deep wounds. Today
and in the houses. The main objective was the defeat of the invaders. Most had a pro- Otranto, shrouded in its past, looks to the
to capture the cathedral, a tangible sign of per burial in the crypt of the cathedral of future with confidence and placed among
Christian belief. The rapes were the order Otranto. The remains today are found in the top ten villages of Italy proudly shows
of the day and women, children, as well seven large wooden display cases in the the recognition of UNESCO that pro-
as some nuns, reduced to a humiliating Chapel of the Martyrs created in the apse claims it as a world cultural heritage, as a
slavery. Many men over the past 15 ye- of the same church. About three hundred “Messenger of Peace” site.

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