The Casotto of the Port

Begun to be built at the end of the 19th century on the occasion of the works to expand the port in order to facilitate the nascent import-export activity of tobacco and subsequently expanded, it has been, for years, the seat of the Beach Delegation of the Harbour Office of Gallipoli which, on the ground floor, had its offices and, on the first floor, the Commander’s apartment. Furthermore, up until the construction of the new port basin (1980s), connected by an access channel between the old and the new basin, the ground floor also housed a boathouse and fishing gear, a mechanical workshop and tanks for colouring and tanning nets. The shed was demolished to allow the excavation of the connection channel that connected the old basin to the new basin under construction. Abandoned for many years, it is now beautifully restored and returned to the Port. Today it is the operational headquarters of the Port Museum of Tricase and of the Magna Grecia Mare Association, which always from the Casotto coordinates and animates the Port Museum. The Casotto has been considered the “best example of multifunctionality of a public structure”.