The coast in this stretch of Salento is particularly rugged. It's challenging to reach the sea from the land, and vice versa. The rocky cliffs, densely covered in Mediterranean vegetation, plunge steeply, and the waters are immediately deep.

It's an unspoiled coastline, with the exception of the lighthouse. Not only does the eye struggle to perceive a connection with human presence; it also lacks the quintessential connection of our time, the internet, because the area is not always covered by a signal. And if you ever do manage to catch one, it's likely to be Greek.

Despite the natural constraints, Punta Palascìa is a meeting place. According to nautical conventions, this is where the Adriatic and Ionian Seas blend. The phenomenon is even visible to the naked eye because the two seas have different salinities. The best point to observe it, however, is Punta Meliso, near Santa Maria di Leuca.

In any case, the Punta Palascìa Lighthouse brings people together. Here, Salentines, travelers, and restless souls gather at the lighthouse to await the first Italian sunrise of the new year. The arriving sun is always full of promises; if there's a lighthouse nearby, it's also full of contradictions.

"The history of lighthouses in the Mediterranean," as Predrag Matvejević wrote in his "Mediterranean Breviary," "is a long tale of light and darkness."