Monument of Antonio De Ferrariis

Historical Asset

The monument, built in honour of Antonio de Ferrariis, is the tangible example of the deep respect that the city of Galatone addresses to its most distinguished citizen. Antonius De Ferraris was born in 1444 in Galatone, located in Salento, in the province of Lecce (Apulia, in southern Italy) to a family of Greek descent.Both his great-grandfather and grandfather were priests in the Eastern Orthodox Church and were fluent in both Greek and Latin literature. His father was also fluent in both Greek and Latin. His family was part of the historical Greek community of Southern Italy. He later wrote of his pride to be descended from Greek ancestors and priests and of the Greek traditions of his province proclaiming: “We are not ashamed of our race, Greeks we are, and we glory in it”. He was commonly called “il Galateo”, an epithet he took from the city of his origin Galatone. He used the nickname in almost every document, and the name was also inherited by his children and grandchildren, it ultimately replaced his original family name of “De Ferraris”. The most important of de Ferraris’ works is the De situ Japigiae, written between 1506 and 1511 but first printed in 1558 in Basel at the expense of the Marquis of Oria Giovan Bernardino Bonifacio. Reprinted in Naples in 1624, it amended some critical steps toward the Catholic Church hierarchy. Other editions and translations into various languages followed.