Messapia Hotel and Resort, a four star hotel located in a panoramic position at only 800 metres from the sea, is harmoniously integrated in the natural scenery of the Mediterranean maquis. This seaside resort, which was in the past a Messapian site and later a little Roman town, OVERLOOKS the stunning area of Santa Maria of Leuca on the eastern coast of Salento peninsula called “finis terrae” or “the end of the world” because land seems to finish here, jutting into the waters of the Adriatic and Ionian seas. Messapia Hotel’s architecture and furnishing aim at respecting the basic elements of Salento environment such as the “Pajare” the Mediterranean maquis, but also materials as the local stone called “carparo” and the rush, chosen to create an extremely simple and functional style and to show the dexterity of local craftsmen. In the hotel rooms, the decors on the bedhead refer to old Messapian symbols such as the sun, the sea and the wind. Distinctive and unusual is the building that houses the hall, the restaurant and the main facilities. Its structure perfectly reflects the motif of a fortified farm-house or “masseria fortificata” an old architectural structure complete with a tower which was used in the past as a defence system.