Located at a short distance from Otranto, Uggiano the Church rises in an area inhabited since the ancient times, evidenced by the monolith stones of St. John Malcantone, that date back to the Bronze Age and are positioned along the road between the Chapel of Saints Medici and Cerfignano.
However, the first historical documents on the settlement Uggiano to go back only to 1200, when the Emperor Federico II offered the small town to the Archbishop of Otranto. This reign over Uggiano was later reconfirmed by the Anjou that the Aragonese, and to the town's name "the Church" was added.
In Piazza Umberto I lies the Cathedral Church entitled to Maria Maddalena, with an imposing Baroque façade, enriched by doorways, windows and statues. It has a basilica shaped plan with one major nave and two aisles and inside preserves a beautiful wooden choir of the XVIII century and precious paintings of the artists Donato Antonio Orlando and Oronzo Tiso.
The Castle De Donno was built in late XIII century, during the reign of Charles II of Naples and is located in the center of Casamassella, district of Uggiano, and in 1700 was used as a noble residence.
Not to miss: the crypt of St. Helena, located about 3km from the town, whose name probably derives from a deformation of the Greek word Eleusis, title of the Vergine, portrayed in a fresco in the crypt. It dates to the period between the VIII and X centuries, when the Basilian monks settled in the Salento region.