Italian language school in Apulia

9 reasons to study Italian language in Otranto (Puglia)

Why learn Italian in Southern Italy

Learn Italian in a small town

Learn Italian in this part of Italy means a unique immersion experience in the language and in a very interesting culture.
Here in Otranto everything is on a human scale: the town, the school, the people; you will not find the mass foreign tourism there is in the big cities. Studying in a small town means that you can speak Italian everywhere and that you will not feel like a “stranger” because people are full of human warmth and special attention to the newcomers.

Why not combine a course learning Italian with sunshine, history, culture (and a bit of beach) in the beautiful Puglia (Apulia) region of Italy?

 

lega ambiente 5 vele

 

In the last 10 years Otranto won  the five flags” prize for the cleanest sea of Italy by “Legambiente” and “Touring Club” (Italian associations about environment and Tourism), and the ANCI (National Association of the Italian Towns) listed Otranto among the 15 most beautiful small towns in Italy. Otranto won also in 2010 UNESCO recognition (Borgo Antico)

9 reasons to learn Italian in Southern Italy

Our school offers a friendly, personal and attentive approach to learning Italian

We are a small, intimate institution with a big desire to inspire learning in relaxed, yet professional surroundings. Individual attention is assured at all times. We have a long experience in teaching Italian to the foreigners. We have been offering Italian programs in Italy for over 20 years.

This part of Italy is a region which breathes more slowly and deeply…

The fast pace of life and short tempers of the North are dissolved by the atmosphere of this timeless landscape. People have time to stop and speak to you (in Italian!) and are more than generous with their help and enthusiasm. Otranto is a town that distils this spirit into one word: congeniality. There are no worries about crime or disorder, the sense of tranquil security is pervasive.

The region is one that has thankfully escaped the negative implications of a large tourism industry

The result is that the local population has very little English fluency, meaning that students will encounter a true Italian immersion, virtually devoid of people speaking English, whether locals or tourists. Indeed, 90% of Otranto’s tourists come from other parts of Italy rather than abroad, further ensuring an English-free aural experience!

Tourists with cultural interests

Another distinct benefit of the region’s low tourist profile is the fact that the individualistic tourists who do visit this magical land have interests different from those associated with mass tourism. For these discriminating visitors, the appeal lies with the culture, history, traditions and gastronomy of Apulia. Only in August does the population of Otranto traditionally swell with an influx of Italian holidaymakers.

The sea flanking Otranto is not only azure blue; it is the clearest and cleanest in Italy!

This is a fact established in each of the last 10 years by virtue of Otranto’s winning first prize in this important environmental cleanliness category.

Otranto and its environs offer the student a sensorial feast

The air is free from pollution, scented with nature’s bouquet of sweet and spicy fragrances. This sun drenched landscape provides the perfect conditions in which verdant crops flourish, with little artificial irrigation required. The land is carpeted with olive groves, vineyards and fruit orchards; natural vegetation also includes cactus, palm trees and pine forests. There are a number of environmental areas set aside by government as nature reserves, including dramatic, wild coastlines plus an Oasis founded by the WWF. Expanses of white sand beckon visitors to swim, or simply wade, in the warm azure waters lapping shores of hidden bays and crescent beaches. The school offers very interesting guided trips allowing students to experience firsthand these, and other, natural delights.

You can choose a slow-paced vacation dedicated to relaxation and wellbeing

Alternatively, you might choose a more active holiday engaging in physical and leisure activities immersed in nature. Explore the pristine environment of the protected marine areas, or dive into the nightlife as it lights up summer evenings in beautiful seaside towns of this part of Italy.

The climate of Southern Italy is very benign

The cold, frosty winters of the North are unknown here. Our summer lasts from April to October, with temperatures averaging 25°C (click here to see the average temperature during the year). The hottest days of August are tempered in Otranto by gentle sea breezes from the Adriatic.

Otranto provides a variety of services to meet all students’ needs and desires

In town you will find banks, travel agencies, supermarkets, agencies to rent cars, motorbikes and bikes, restaurants, pizzerias, pubs, discotheques, a wide range of accommodation, exhibitions and cultural events, cinema, theatre and concerts (open-air in the summer).

Otranto, a typical small town of Southern Italy where nature and history are the protagonists

Otranto is a small town for a big holiday. An important historic and artistic centre, Otranto lies on one of Italy’s most beautiful coastlines, the sea that laps against its shores is limpid and intense in colour.

Otranto presents itself to the visitor in the guise of a medieval city, still attached to the periods that preceded destruction. Rich in remains, which testify to its intensely glorious and at times dramatic past; the splendid Cathedral overlooks the town, along with Saint Peter’s Basilica, Martyr’s Hill, the Castle, the Towers, the Bastions, the Aragonese walls and the fortified farmhouses, a must for all visitors to Salento.

The coast-road is one of the most poetic tourist itineraries in the province. It seems made just for the purpose of holding the interest of the traveller in search of new sensation and appealing to his imagination.

With its breathtaking sea views Otranto is a paradise for all nature lovers. Otranto lies at the most easterly point of Italy: in summer you can get across to Greece.

What to see in Otranto

  • The Cathedral consecrated in 1088 with the Romanesque-Gothic facade adorned by the Renaissance rose window and the baroque portal, inside which is the beautiful mosaic of 1100, one of the largest floor mosaics in Europe.
  • The Byzantine church of San Pietro (X-XII century) with its Byzantine frescoes and the central dome-shaped Greek cross plan.
    The Aragonese Castle built after the liberation of the city from the Turks in 1481, stands on earlier fortifications of the Norman, Byzantine and Greek periods. With a pentagonal plan it preserves almost intact all the defensive system made of towers, ditches, walls and curtains.
  • The Monastery of Casole, Greek Orthodox monastery; the largest library in the Mediterranean for the study of Greek philosophy in the year 1000.
  • The Crypt of the Spezierie (12th century) with its beautiful outdoor dovecote and Greek inscriptions.
  • The hypogeum of Torre Pinta, a mysterious and ancient place that with its hypogean structure showing a corridor of 33 meters.
  • The Masseria di Ceppano (12th-16th centuries) with its central tower and the buildings set against a courtyard where there is an ancient cistern from the octagonal well.

Porta d’Oriente | Italian Language School

Vico Madonna del Passo 6– 73028 Otranto – Lecce – Italy
0039 338 4562722 info@porta-doriente.com www.porta-doriente.com

The school is officially recognized by:

università di perugiaUniversity for foreigners of Perugia for Celi and Dils-pg certicates
università germaniaGerman Federal Sates as eligible for Bildungsurlaub study leave
università venezia ca foscariUniversity for foreigners of Venice like training centre for Italian teachers
csn sveziaCSN (Swedish Board of Student Finance)
programma socrate comeniusThe school is present in the Erasmus + database
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