Castro (Salentino: Casciu) is a town and comune in the Italian province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-eastern Italy.

History

Castro derives its name from Castrum Minervae (Latin for "Athena's castle"), which was an ancient town of the Sallentini, about 15 km south of Hydruntum. Its ancient temple of Minerva was said to have been founded by Idomeneus, who formed the tribe of the Sallentini from a mixture of Cretans, Illyrians and Italian Locrians (Central Greek tribe). It is also said to have been the place where Aeneas first landed in Italy, the port of which he named Portus Veneris ("Port of Venus"). The temple had lost some of its importance in Strabo's day. Castro has been since 1969 a Titular see of the Roman Catholic Church; its Latin name is Castrensis in Apulia. Richard Sklba (1935–2024), auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, was the most recent incumbent.